PUBLICATIONS 

OF 

THE  CHURCH   SOCIAL  UNION. 

issued  semi-monthly. 

April  15,  1895. 

The  Railroad  Strike 

OF    1894. 

The  [Statements  of  the  Pullman  Company  and  the 
Report  of  the  Commission,  together 

WITH    AN    ANALYSis    OF 

THE  Issues, 
By  W.  J.  Ashley,  M.  A. 

Professor  of  Econoniic  History  in  Harvard  University, 
And  a  Brief  Bibliography. 


CAMBRIDGE. 
OFFICE  OF  THE  SECRETARY, 

3    MASON    STREET. 
1895. 


THE  CHURCH   SOCIAL  UNION. 


Objects.  —  i.  To  claim  for  the  Christian  Law  the  ultimate  authority  to  rule 
social  practice.  2.  To  study  in  common  how  to  arply  the  moral  truths  and 
principles  of  Christianity  to  the  social  and  economic  difficulties  of  the  present  time. 
3.  To  present  Christ  in  practical  life  as  the  living  Master  and  King,  the  Enemy  of 
wrong  and  selfishness,  the  Power  of  righteousness  and  love. 

Membership  (entitling  to  Publications)  is  open  to  all  communicants  of  the 
Episcopal  Church  upon  application  to  the  Secretary  and  the  payment  of  one  dollar. 

Subscriptions  to  the  Publications  are  received  from  non-members  at  two  dollars 
per  annum. 

PRESIDENT. 
The  Rt.  Rev.  F.  D.  Huntington,  S.  T.  D. 


VICE-PRESIDENTS. 


The  Rt.  Rev.  Henry  C.  Potter,  D.  D.   j 

The  Rev.  Joseph  Reynolds.  | 

George  E. 


The  Rev.  Robert  A.  Holland,  S.  T.  D. 
Prof.  Richard  T.  Ely,  Ph.  D. 
McNeil. 


SECRETARY. 

The  Rev.    George  Hodges,  D.   D.,  3 
Mason  Street,  Cambridge,  Mass. 


TREASURER. 

H.  Gardiner,  40  State  Street, 
Boston,  Mass. 


EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE. 

The  Rev.  J.  W.  Suter,  Chairman. 


Prof.  W.  J.  Ashley,  M.  A. 
Edmund  Billings. 
The  Rev.  W.  D.P.  Bi.iss. 
The  Rev.  C.  H.  Brent. 
The  Rev.  W.  L.  Bull. 


The  Rev.  W.  B.  Frisby. 
Francis  Watts  Lee. 
The  Rev.  Philo  W.  Spragub. 
The  Rev.  Floyd  Tompkins,  Jr 
John  W.  Wood. 


COUNCIL. 


The  foregoing  and 
The  Rt.  Rev.  H.  M.  Thompson,  S.T.D. 
The  Rt.  Rev.  Davis  Sessums,  D.  D. 
The  Rev.  Arthur  Brooks,  D.  D. 
Prof.  James  H.  Dillard. 
Miss  Helsna  S.  Dudley. 
The  Rev.  Prof.  E.  P.  Gould,  D.  D. 
The  Rev.  Percy  S.  Grant. 
James  L.  Houghteling. 
William  P.  Johnston,  LL.  D. 
The  Rev.  J.  S.  Lindsay,  D.  D. 
The  Rev.  Arthur  Lowndes. 
J.  Blehker  Miller. 


The  Rev.  Henry  Mottett,  D.  D. 

The  Rev.  E.  N.  Potter,  D.  D. 

The  Rev.  W.  S.  Rainsford,  D.  D. 

Miss  ViDA  D.  Scudder. 

Archibald  L.  Sessions. 

The  Rev.  H.  H.  Sleeper,  Ph.  D. 

The    Rev.    William     Harman     Van 

Allen. 
The  Rev.  George  R.  Van  De  Water, 

D.  D. 
Everett  P.  Wheeler. 
The  Rev.  John  Williams. 
George  Zabriskie. 


(S-U'/O?! 


THE   CHURCH   SOCIAL   UNION. 

NOTES   FOR   MEMBERS. 

As  announced  in  the  Supplement  to  the  last  issue  of  the  Publications, 
the  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Union  will  take  place  at  Boston,  Mass., 
Tuesday,  May  14,  1895.  The  business  meeting  will  take  place  at 
the  Diocesan  House,  i  Joy  Street,  at  3  p.  m.  There  will  be  a 
public  service  the  same  evening  in  St.  Paul's  Church  at  which  the 
Bishop  of  Massachusetts  will  preside,  and  which  will  be  addressed  by 
the  Rev.  W.  S.  Rainsford,  D.  D.,  and  Mr.  John  W.  Wood  of  New 
York.  At  the  business  meeting  the  amendments  to  the  Constitution 
which  were  sent  out  with  the  last  issue  will  be  proposed. 

The  attention  of  the  members  of  the  old  C.  S.  U.  is  called  to  the 
fact  that  in  accordance  with  the  vote  of  the  Executive  Committee 
this  is  the  last  but  one  of  the  Publications  which  will  be  sent  to  those 
persons  who  have  not  joined  the  reorganized  society.  It  is  hoped 
that  the  obvious  value  of  the  present  series  and  the  promise  which 
it  gives  of  a  pei'iod  of  renewed  and'  fruitful  activity  will  lead  the 
greater  number  of  the  700  old  members  who  have  as  yet  returned  no 
answer  to  the  Executive  Committee's  circular  letter  of  December  the 
28th  to  renew  their  membership  without  further  delay.  The  society 
requires  liberal  support  if  it  is  to  accomplish  its  purpose.  All  mem- 
bers can  render  efficient  aid  by  extending  a  knowledge  of  the  Union 
amongst  Churchmen  and  endeavoring  to  secure  for  it  an  increased 
membership  and  so  an  increased  field  of  work. 

The  Publications  thus  far  arranged  for  by  the  Executive  Committee, 
subject  to  a  possible  change  in  the  order  of  their  appearance,  are  as 
follows :  — 


SERIES   A. 

The  Church  of  the  World. 

Rev.  R.  A.  Holland,  S.  T.  D. 
The  Political  Economy  of  the  Ser- 
mon ON  THE  Mount. 

Very  Rev.  C.  W.  Stubbs,  D.  D. 
The  Church  and  Social  Problems. 

Rt.  Rev.  F.  D.  Huntington,  S.  T.  D. 
An  Address  before  Harvard  Uni- 
versity. 

Rev.  W.  S.  Rainsford,  D.  D. 


SERIES    B. 

The  Railroad  Strike  of  1894. 

Prof.  W.  J.  Ashley. 
Arbitration  and  Conciliation. 
An  Eight  Hour  Day. 
American  Trades   Unions. 
The  Sacredness  of  Property. 

Prof.  W.  Cunningham. 


These  and  all  other  publications  of  the  Union  will  be  carefully  pre- 
pared and  edited  under  the  guidance  of  a  Publication  Committee  of 


which  Prof.  W.  J.  Ashley  of  Harvard  is  Chairman,  and  will,  as  a  rule, 
be  accompanied  by  lists  of  books  and  articles  for  further  reading  pre- 
pared by  Mr.  F.  W.  Lee  of  the  Boston  Public  Library. 

The  attention  of  the  clerical  members  of  the  Union  is  called  to 
Art.  IV.,  Sect.  3,  of  the  Constitution,  and  they  are  reminded  that 
they  are  expected  to  preach  "  on  topics  connected  with  the  Union 
...  on  St.  Philip  and  St.  James'  day,  or  the  first  Sunday  in  May." 

The  Treasurer  desires  that  all  unpaid  pledges  of  dues  or  donations 
shall  be  redeemed  as  soon  as  possible. 

GEORGE   HODGES, 

General  Secretary. 


THE   RAILROAD   STRIKE 

OF  1894.  , 

The  main  purpose  of  the  Church  Social  Union  is  to  stimulate  and 
assist  careful  study  of  the  present  industrial  situation.  It  is  fitting, 
therefore,  that  it  should  begin  its  new  season  of  work  by  inviting  its 
members  to  give  their  quiet  and  impartial  attention  to  the  main  facts 
in  the  history  of  the  greatest  industrial  struggle  yet  seen  in  this 
country,  —  the  Chicago  strike  of  last  year,  —  and  to  ponder  soberly 
the  principles  involved.  For  this  purpose,  there  are  herewith  put 
into  the  hands  of  each  of  the  members,  the  Report  of  the  U.  S. 
Strike  Commission  and  Mr.  Pullman's  Statement. 

Whatever  criticism  may  be  called  for  by  either  of  these  docu- 
ments, it  is  evident  that  they  are  each  of  them  at  least  deserving  of 
consideration.  The  U.  S.  Strike  Commission  had  exceptional  means 
of  arriving  at  an  accurate  knowledge  of  the  facts  of  the  case  ;  and  the 
reputation  of  its  chairman,  the  Hon.  Carroll  D.  Wright,  as  a  statis- 
tician and  economic  investigator,  is  so  high  in  America  and  Europe 
that  his  judgment  as  to  the  facts  must  be  listened  to  with  respect. 

Mr.  Pullman  is  an  extremely  able  and  successful  business  man, 
and  the  statement  he  has  put  forward  has  undoubtedly  been  prepared 
with  the  aid  of  the  most  skilful  advisers  attainable. 

To  assist  the  members  of  the  C.  S..U.  to  arrive  at  some  con- 
clusions concerning  the  mass  of  contentions  now  put  before  them, 
the  Committee  venture  to  lay  before  them  certain  notes  and  memo- 
randa. They  would  urge  their  members,  however,  before  going 
further,  first  to  read  rapidly  through  both  the  accompanying  docu- 
ments. Each,  in  its  different  way,  is  so  forcible  that  members  who 
have  scanty  leisure,  having  read  one,  will  possibly  think  that  there  is 
nothing  more  to  be  said,  and  that  it  is  hardly  worth  while  to  read 
the  other.  For  the  purpose,  however,  which  this  Society  has  at 
heart,  it  is  of  the  utmost  importance  that  whichever  may  chance  to 
have  been  read  first,  the  other  should  then  be  read  also.  And  mem- 
bers are  urged  not  to  content  themselves  with  newspaper  summaries, 
but  to  read  both  right  through. 

Having  done  this,  they  will  be  in  a  position  to  go  over  the  subject 
once  more,  more  critically ;  and  for  this  purpose  they  may  find  it 
useful  to  follow  the  lines  of  thought  here  laid  down.  It  need  hardly 
be  said  that  if  this  publication  is  taken  up  and  glanced  through,  put 
down  and  forgotten,  as  we  read  newspapers,  it  will  be  useless.  It  is 
hoped  that  members  will  keep  it  by  them,  and  recur  to  it  again  and 
again  for  quiet  and  sustained  consideration. 

I.     The  Sequence  of  Events. 

Facts  and  principles  are  almost  inextricably  intertwined  in  real 
life ;   but  for  clearness  of  thought  it  is  desirable  to  attempt  to  dis- 


entangle  them.  Up  to  a  certain  stage,  two  entirely  separate  sets  of 
events  have  to  be  distinguished,  —  those  in  the  railroad  world  in  and 
around  Chicago,  and  those  in  the  Pullman  car  manufacturing  and 
repairing  business. 

1886.  Formation  of  the  Genera/  Managers'  Assoaa^ion, representing 
twenty- four  roads  centring  or  terminating  in  Chicago. 

1892.  Beginning  of  its  "active  life"  {Rep07-t^  xxix.).  Its  main 
business  was  to  determine  a  common  policy  towards  the  public  as 
to  freight  rates,  etc.,  but  it  dealt  incidentally  with  wages. 

1893.  Strengthened  thus  by  mutual  aid  {^Report,  xxx.^,  various 
roads  made  reductions  of  wages  here  and  there. 

1893,  June.  Formation  (June  20),  of  the  Amerzcan  Railway  Union 
(Report,  xxiii.). 

1893,  Sept.    Business  depression  suggests  to  the  Pullman  Company 
a  reduction  of  employment  and  a  diminution  of  wages. 
Quesfiojis  of  fact : 

(a)  As  to  the  effect  of  depression  on  the  car  business 
{Statement,  6-8). 

{b)     No   explanation,    however,  was   given    to   the  work 
people   till   May   {Report,  xxxvii.).       It   might   be   replied 
that  it  was  not  requested  {Statement,  7). 
Questions  of  Principle  : 

{a)     Was  the  loss  "  fairly  "  divided  as  between 
labor  and  capital  {Report,  xxxii.)  ? 

{i>)     Was  it  "fair"  to  make  a  uniform  reduction 
in  departments  differently  situated  {Report,  xxxiv.y. 
But  no  change  was  made  in  the  rentals  of  Pullman  houses. 
Q,uestio7ts  of  fact  : 

{a)  Descriptions  of  the  town  of  Pullman  from  different 
points  of  view,  {Statement,  1-3,  23,  24  ;  Report,  xxi.,  xxii). 

{b)  Different  versions  of  the  relations  between  occupancy 
and  employment.  On  one  side  it  is  implied  that  practically 
all  the  Pullman  workmen  live  in  the  Company's  houses,  with 
the  exception  of  "  exceptional  and  necessary  expert  work- 
men "  {Report,  XXXV.) .  On  the  other  hand  it  is  declared  that 
only  one  third  of  the  employees  were  tenants  {Statement,^). 

{c)     The  clearest  account  is  that  of    Mr.  Wickes  {State- 
ment, 21),  according  to  which  two  thirds  of  the  employees 
were  tenants  or  lodgers  (and  as  such  indirectly  affected  by 
the  rate  of  rent ;  cf  Statement,  28,  middle). 
Question  of  Principle  : 

Ought  the  Company  to  have  reduced  rents  while 

reducing  wages?     Different  answers  {Statement,  32, 

37;  Report,  xxxvi.). 

The  Pullman  policy  as  a  whole.    Described  on  the  one  side 

as  a  benevolent  attempt  to  give  employment  even  on  unre- 

munerative  contracts  {Statement,  7)  ;  on  the  other,  as  simply 

the  best  business  policy  {Report,  xxxiii.,  xxxv.). 


i894>  March.     Pullman  employees  join  the  A.  R.  U. 

Question  of  the  wisdom  of  their  admission  {Report,  xxvii.). 
May  7  and  9.    Committee  of  employees  wait  upon  the  management, 
requesting  return  to  old  wage.     No  concession  offered  {Statement,  9  ; 
Report,   XXXV a.). 

May  10.  Three  committeemen  discharged  {Statement,  10; 
Report,  xxxinii.). 

May  to,  evg.  Local  unions  of  A.  R.  U.  (/.  e.,  the  Pullman  men) 
vote  to  strike. 

Alleged  that  directors  of  A.  R.  U.   advised   against  the 

strike,  but  were  dragged  into  it  by  the  Pullman  men  {Report, 

xxvii.).     No  violence   or  destruction   of  property  occurred 

at  Pullman  {Report,  xxxviii.  ;  State}?ie?it,  24). 

June  15  and  22.     Pullman  Company  refuse  to  receive  communication 

from  A.  R.  U.  {Report.,  xxxix.),  or  to  receive  a  joint  committee  of 

A.  R.  U.  and  Pullman  men  {Statement,  2,Z). 

From   this   time  to  the   end  of  the   strike   it  repeatedly 

refused    to  consider   proposals   for   arbitration    from    Civic 

Federation  of  Chicago,   Common   Council,  Mayors   of  fifty 

cities,  etc. 

June  21.     Unanimous  resolution  of  Convention  of  A.  R.  U.  (under 

instructions  from  local  unions)  to  stop  handling  Pullman  cars  on  June 

26,  unless  Pullman  Company  acceded  to  arbitration  {Report.^  xxxix.). 

Readiness  to  strike  sympathetically  said  to  have  been  increased  by 

the  recent  action  of  G.  M.  A.  {Report,  xl.). 

June    25.     G.  M.  A.  resolve   to  disregard  the   proposed   boycott 
{Statement,  30). 
June  26.     General  railroad  strike  begins. 

The  struggle  thenceforward  is  between  the  A.  R.  U.  and 
G.  M.  A.   {Report,  xliii.). 

Consequent  dislocation  of  commerce. 
Mob  violence,  riot,  and  plunder  {Report,  xviii.). 
July  2.     Issue  of  injunction  (legality  of  which  is  not  yet  decided) 
by  United  States  Court  enjoining  the  A.  R.  U.  not  to  induce  rail- 
road employees  to  strike. 

July  13.  Principal  Union  officers  attached  for  contempt  of  Court. 
Meanwhile,  the  action  of  Federal  Government  in  despatching  troops 
had  quelled  riot ;  the  strike  had  been  discredited  by  the  violence 
associated  with  it;   and  the  strikers  had  been  practically  beaten. 

July  13.  G.  M.  A.  refuses  to  receive  communication  from  the 
A.  R.  U. 

Reserving  for  later  consideration  the  question  how  far  the  mere 
fact  of  the  strike  necessarily  caused  violence,  and  the  conclusions 
to  be  drawn  from  such  a  proposition,  it  appears  that  the  worst 
mob  violence  was  due  to  hoodlums  and  professional  criminals  {Re- 
port, xlvi.),  though  some  railway  men  undoubtedly  were  concerned  in 
certain  outrages  {Report,  xlv.).  There  is  no  evidence  that  the  officers 
of  the  A.  R.  U.  participated  in  or  advised  violence,  except  a  cer- 
tain despatch  {Report,  xlv.). 


2.     Important  Principles  at  Issue. 

Several  questions  of  principle,  as  distinguished  from  questions  of 
fact,  have  already  been  mentioned  in  their  due  place  above.  But 
there  are,  in  the  opinion  of  the  Committee  of  the  C.  S.  U.,  some 
still  more  important  issues,  which  it  would  be  well  to  consider  apart. 

It  may  be  well  to  make  the  preliminary  observation  that  it  is,  of 
course,  the  duty  of  all  good  citizens  to  discountenance  violence,  what- 
ever may  be  the  motives  or  excuses  of  those  guilty  of  it,  and  that  it 
is  the  duty  of  the  proper  authorities  to  act  promptly  for  its  prevention 
or  punishment. 

In  the  opinion  of  the  Committee,  the  following  are  the  most  im- 
portant issues  raised  by  the  strike ;  and  even  those  who  dissent  from 
that  view  will  agree  that  they  are  important. 

I.     The  Right  to  Strike. 

It  seems  to  be  the  case  that  in  America  to-day  every  very 
considerable  strike  in  a  large  industrial  centre  is  likely  to  be 
attended  with  violence.  There  are  those  who  declare  that 
the  strike  leaders  count  upon  this,  and  "  rely  upon  having 
their  work  done  by  hoodlums  ";  there  are  others  who,  with- 
out attributing  any  such  sinister  purpose,  declare  that  the 
Union  leaders  ought  to  foresee  the  probabilit}',  and  that  the 
evil  of  probable  violence  ought,  in  their  minds,  to  outweigh 
the  possible  good  of  success  in  the  struggle  for  better  terms 
from  their  employers. 

Either  view  results  in  the  conclusion  that  a  strike,  on  a 
large  scale,  ought  never  to  be  undertaken.  (The  fact  that 
in  the  Chicago  case  the  strike  was  a  sympathetic  one  does 
not  affect  the  argument.  In  any  case,  a  big  strike  is  usually 
attended  by  violence.)  The  men,  it  will  accordingly  be 
concluded,  have  no  moral  right  to  strike  ;  and  the  sympathy 
of  decent  citizens  should  always  be  against  strikers  as  such. 

But  it  is  the  opinion  of  almost  every  economist  of  repute, 
of  whatever  school,  that  labor  combinations,  with  a  power 
to  appeal  in  the  last  resort  to  the  joint  refusal  to  work,  i.  e.,  to 
strike,  are,  under  the  present  system  of  competition,  the  "in- 
dispensable means  of  enabling  the  sellers  of  labor  to  take 
care  of  their  own  interests  "  (J.  S.  Mill,  Principles  of  Politi- 
cal Economy,  Bk.  v.,  Chap,  x.,  §5,  second  half).  With  these 
words  of  Mill,  may  be  compared  the  language  of  Fawcett 
{Manual,  6th  ed.,  page  242),  Walker  (Political  Econo7?iy, 
§468),  and  Marshall  {Elements  of  Economics,  1892,  pages 
381,  382,  390).  These  are  not  writers  particularly  sympathetic 
towards  Trades  Union  policy,  or  particularly  hopeful  of  good 
•results  from  such  action.  They  merely  state  that,  even 
though  in  very  many  cases  strikes  may  have  been  unwise, 
the  right  to  strike  is,  in  itself,  a  necessary  safeguard  of  work- 
ingmen's  interests. 


No  economist,  it  may  be  worth  while  to  add,  now  believes 
that  there  is  any  natural  "  law  "  of  wages,  which  work  people 
can  in  any  sense  "violate."  They  all  believe  that  within 
certain  limits  (as  to  which  there  are,  of  course,  differences  of 
opinion)  the  rate  of  wages  is  determined  by  the  relative 
strength  of  the  two  parties  to  the  bargain,  the  buyers  and 
sellers  of  labor.  They  regard  combination  on  the  part  of 
the  sellers  of  labor,  common  agreement  as  to  the  price  to 
be  asked,  and  ability  to  withdraw  temporarily  the  supply  of 
their  labor  from  the  market  (/.  ^.,to  strike)  as  circumstances 
which  strengthen  one  party  in  the  bargaining  process,  just  as 
accumulation  of  capital  and  the  control  of  industrial  under- 
takings in  few  hands  strengthen  the  other  party. 

If,  therefore,  public  opinion  in  America  determines  to 
brand  every  great  strike  as  necessarily  wrong,  —  which,  hav- 
ing regard  to  the  weakness  of  the  forces  for  the  maintenance 
of  order  in  the  large  cities,  the  large  number  of  foreign 
laborers  inclined  to  violence,  the  danger  from  the  criminal 
and  semi-criminal  classes,  the  extremes  to  which  even  worthy 
workingmen  may  be  led  by  passion  or  starvation,  the  chances 
of  unwise  or  corrupt  leadership,  etc.,  etc.,  it  may  possibly 
do,  —  then  it  will  not  only  be  expedient,  but  also  demanded 
by  justice,  that  the  safeguard  removed  should  be  replaced  by 
a  safeguard  of  another  kind.  In  other  words,  public  preven- 
tion of  strikes  would  seem  in  justice  to  involve,  not,  indeed, 
necessarily  direct  and  immediate  public  intervention  in 
adjusting  the  terms  of  the  labor  contract,  but,  at  any  rate,  a 
public  guarantee  that  the  work  people  shall  not  be  preju- 
dicially affected  by  the  loss  of  the  right  of  combination. 
This  is  an  issue  which  ought  to  be  squarely  faced.  It  is 
evident  that  there  are  grave  difficulties  in  the  way  of  every 
proposed  means  of  making  that  guarantee  real ;  but  the 
grappling  with  those  difficulties  is  itself  part  of  the  responsi- 
bility which  the  public  necessarily  assumes  by  discounten- 
ancing strikes.  It  may  be  thought  that  such  a  guarantee 
would  lead  to  intervention  to  regulate  wages ;  and  that  to 
this  even  the  prevalence  of  strikes  would  be  preferable. 
Then  freedom  to  strike  must  be  allowed.  Public  prevention 
of  strikes  clearly  involves  a  certain  public  responsibility  for 
the  result. 

2.      The  Right  to  Strike  Sympathetically. 

So  long  as  the  strike  itself  is  allowed  by  public  opinion, 
the  sympathetic  strike  would  seem  allowable.  If  A,  B,  and 
C  may  strike  against  Z ;  D,  E,  F  may  strike  against  Y,  if  they 
deem  that  thereby  they  will  affect  Y's  actions  in  such  a  way 
as  to  exert  pressure  on  Z.  If  employers  are  to  be  allowed  in 
various  ways  to  assist  one  another  in  struggles  in  which  they 


10 

have  no  immediate  interest,  as  seems  to  be  the  case,  it  would 
seem  that  employees  should  be  likewise  allowed  to  assist  one 
another.  But  here  the  danger  of  affording  occasion  to  vio- 
lence is  often  so  greatly  increased,  and  public  convenience  so 
much  more  likely  to  be  disturbed,  that  while  recognizing  the 
bare  right,  the  public  has  a  more  evident  duty  to  scrutinize 
the  alleged  reason.  In  this  case,  the  motive  asserted  was  to 
compel  the  Pullman  Company  {not  to  yield  to  their  men's 
terms,  but)  to  agree  to  arbitration.  The  question  needs  to 
be  considered,  then,  whether  the  gain  to  the  working 
classes  generally,  from  success  in  inducing  a  great  corpo- 
ration to  accept  arbitration,  was  likely  to  be  such  as  to  out- 
weigh the  probable  evils  of  a  struggle  to  that  end.  Opinions 
as  to  this  will  vary  with  opinions  on  the  next  issue. 

3.     The  Social  Expediency  of  Arbitration. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  Pullman  Company,  in  effect,  refused 
altogether  to  recognize  even  the  possible  desirability  of 
arbitration  in  industrial  warfare.  Mr.  Pullman  distinguishes 
between  "matters  of  opinion,"  "e.g.,  a  question  of  title"  or 
"  the  settlement  of  a  transaction  that  has  come  to  an  end"(z.  e., 
practically,  commercial  arbitration  as  now  practised),  which 
may  be  proper  subjects  of  arbitration,  and  "  matters  of 
fact."  "  As  to  whether  a  fact  which  I  know  to  be  true  is 
true  or  not,  I  could  not  agree  to  submit  to  arbitration." 

''  If  asked  about  the  application  to  the  case  in  hand,  what  I 
would  say  is  this  :  That  the  question  as  to  whether  the  shops 
at  Pullman  should  be  continuously  operated  at  a  loss  or  not, 
is  one  which  it  was  impossible  for  the  Company,  as  a  matter 
of  principle,  to  submit  to  the  opinion  of  any  third  party  ;  and 
as  to  whether  they  were  running  at  a  loss  upon  contract  work 
in  general,  as  explained  to  the  committee  of  the  men  in  my 
interview  with  them,  that  was  a  simple  fact  which  I  knew  to 
be  true,  and  which  could  not  be  made  otherwise  by  the 
opinion  of  any  third  party"  {Statement,  3). 

But  the  distinction  is  hardly  tenable.  For  on  the  one 
hand,  in  commercial  arbitration,  one  or  both  the  parties  have 
frequently  an  equally  positive  belief  that  the  question  at 
issue  is  a  question  of  fact  about  which  they  are  perfectly 
informed,  and  yet  they  judge  it  better  on  the  whole  to 
accept  arbitration  than  to  go  to  law.  And  secondly,  it  is 
unfortunately  the  fact  that  in  most  great  industrial  struggles 
the  employers,  with  an  equally  clear  conscience,  declare 
positively  that  the  conditions  of  trade  will  not  allow  them  to 
make  concessions.  This  was,  for  instance,  the  case  in  the 
recent  great  coal  strike  in  England.  To  have  accepted  such 
a  contention  as  that  of  Mr.  Pullman  would  have  made 
arbitration  impossible  in  very  many  of  those  cases  in  which, 


while  not  agreeable  to  the  parties,  it  has  yet  been  deemed 
by  public  opinion  better  than  a  continuance  of  the 
struggle,  and  in  which  the  force  of  public  opinion  has  in- 
duced the  parties  to  accede  to  the  proposal.  Moreover, 
the  real  matter  at  dispute  does  not  seem  in  the  Pullman 
case  to  have  been  the  cost  of  executing  particular  contracts, 
but  the  industrial  policy  of  the  Pullman  company  as  a 
whole  under  given  conditions.  A  board  of  arbitrators  might 
conceivably  have  reported  that,  on  the  whole,  the  actual 
policy  seemed  the  best;  or  they  might  conceivably  have 
suggested  modifications.  These  modifications  might  con- 
ceivably have  been  accepted  by  the  Pullman  Company, 
not  because  they  thought  them  better  than  their  own 
measures,  nor  even  because  they  despaired  of  winning  in  the 
long  run  if  they  held  out,  but  because  it  seemed  expedient 
for  the  good  of  the  community  at  large  to  make  concessions. 
These  are,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  motives  which  have  influ- 
enced both  sides  in  accepting  arbitrators'  awards  in  many  of 
the  best  known  cases  in  which  arbitration  has  been  success- 
fully resorted  to. 

It  cannot  be  maintained  that  arbitration  is  free  from  grave 
difficulties,  or  that  the  principles  upon  which  awards  are  to 
be  made  are  altogether  clear.  Yet,  it  has  in  practice  proved 
in  many  cases  in  England  better  than  the  pushing  of  the 
warfare  to  the  bitter  end,  and  there  seems  to  be  no  reason 
peculiar  to  America  why  it  should  not  be  so  in  this  country 
also. 

On  a  minor  part  of  the  dispute,  —  the  re?its  for  the  Pull- 
man houses,  —  the  Statement  (pages  32,  37)  seems  to  assume 
it  as  self-evident  that  arbitration  was,  on  such  a  matter,  al- 
together out  of  the  question.  This  is,  apparently,  because 
no  such  case  has  yet  arisen  in  America.  It  may  be  noticed 
that  the  Irish  Land  Legislation  and  the  Scottish  Crofters' 
Legislation  have  in  Europe  introduced  what  is  practically 
compulsory  arbitration,  in  cases  not  wholly  dissimilar  from 
those  of  Pullman.  And  it  can  scarcely  be  granted  that 
there  is  any  distinction  in  principle  between  arbitration 
about  wages  and  arbitration  about  rents.  In  each  case  it 
would  seem  to  be  a  question,  not  of  abstract  justice,  but  of 
social  expediency. 

The  fact  has,  indeed,  to  be  recognized  that  the  prmciple 
of  individualism  is  somewhat  more  firmly  rooted  in  America 
than  it  is  in  England.  Employers  are  wont  to  declare  here, 
with  even  greater  self-confidence,  that  they  "propose  to 
manage  their  business  in  their  own  way,"  and  "  will  not  sub- 
mit to  dictation."  They  are  supported  by  able  and  sincere 
writers  in  the  public  press,  who  urge  that  any  concession  to 
proposals  for  arbitration  would  be  a  "countenancing"  of 
the  "  claims  "  of  labor,  which  would  be  dangerous  to  society. 


Without  attempting  to  pass  any  judgment  upon  these  posi- 
tions in  themselves,  it  may  yet  be  pointed  out  that  while  it 
is  not  clear  that  the  acceptance  of  arbitration  would  seriously 
injure  the  employers,  it  is  clear  that  such  a  victory  as  that 
at  Chicago  is  not  likely  to  be  final.     It  would  seem  a  very 
probable  forecast  that  if  employers  maintain  an  intransige'ant 
attitude,  there  will  be  even  more  considerable  strikes,  with 
their  incidental  danger  of  violence,  in  the  future.     And  even 
if  the  labour-combination  movement    is,  for  the   time,  dis- 
couraged by  non-success,  it  is  only  too  likely  to  be  replaced 
by  a  more  revolutionary  political  socialism. 
It  is  not  the  purpose  here  to  attempt  to  judge   as  between  these 
apparent  alternatives  ;  but  this  seems  to  be  the  situation  which  mem- 
bers of  the  C.  S.  U.  ought  to  bear  steadily  in  mind. 

W.    J.    ASHLEY, 

For  the  Economic  Sub-Cojntfiitiee  of  the  C.  S.  U. 
April,  1895. 


The  edition  of  the  Report  of  the  U.  S.  Strike  Commission  bound 
up  herewith  does  not  include  the  appendices  containing  the  testimony, 
etc.  The  complete  edition  containing  these  may  be  had  upon  appli- 
cation to  any  Congressman. 


THE  RAILROAD  STRIKE  OF  1894. 


A   BRIEF    BIBLIOGRAPHY, 

Compiled  by  FRANCIS  WATTS  Lee,  of  the  Boston  Public  Library. 


This  list,  which  is  not  intended  to  be  exhaustive  or  generally  inclusive  of  news- 
paper comment,  is  designed  to  present  only  such  books  and  magazine  articles  in  the 
English  language  as  are  readily  accessible,  and  likely  to  help  the  members  of  The 
Church  Social  Union  to  just  conclusions  upon  the  questions  raised  by  this  strike. 
It  has,  however,  been  thought  well  to  add  to  the  titles  of  works  dealing  directly  with 
the  strike  itself  and  with  the  report  of  the  Commission  a  few  others  bearing  upon 
the  preliminary  conditions  at  Pullman,  and  upon  strikes  in  general  and  railroad  strikes 
in  particular. 

Carwardine,  Wm.  H.  The  Pullman 
Strike.  By  the  Pastor  of  the  First 
M.  E.  Church  of  Pullman.  Chicago, 
Kerr,    1894.     126   pp.     Illus.     i2mo! 

—  See  also  his  evidence  before  the  U.  S. 
Strike  Commission.  Report,  pp. 
444-454- 

CoGLEY,  Thomas  S.  The  Law  of  Strikes, 
Lockouts  and  Labor  Organizations. 
Washington,  Lowdermilk,  1894,  xiv, 
(i)'  211  PP-     Svo. 

CooLEY,  Thomas  M.  The  Lessons  of  the 
Recent  Civil  Disorders.  Forum,  Vol. 
xviii.,  p.  I.     September,  1894. 

Debs,  Eugene  V.  United  States  v.  Eugene 
V.  Debs  et  at.,  in  chancery.  Before 
Hon.  Wm.  A.  Woods,  Circuit  Judge, 
etc.  Proceedings  on  information  for 
attachment  for  contempt.  Chicago, 
Barnard  and  Hornstein,  1894.  217 
pp.     8vo. 

—  See  also  Swinton,  John.  Striking  for 
Life. 

—  See  also  his  evidence  before  the  U.  S. 
Strike  Commission.  Report,  pp.  129- 
180. 

DeWolf,  Oscar  C.  Pullman  from  a 
State  Medicine  point  of  view.  Amer. 
Pub.  Health  Assoc.  Proc,  ix.,  p.  290. 

Doty,  Duane.  The  Story  of  Pullman. 
Chicago,  1894.  Issued  by  The  Pull- 
man Company. 

—  See  also  his  evidence  before  the  U. 
S.  Strike  Commission.  Report  pp 
495-507- 


Adams,  Henry  C.  The  Railway  Situa- 
tion. Review  of  Reviews,  Vol.  x.,  p. 
185.     August,  1894. 

Allen,  Charles  Claflin.  Injunction 
and  Organized  Labor.  American 
Law  Review.  Vol.  xxviii.,  p.  828. 
November-December,  1894. 

Ashley,  W.  J.  The  Railroad  Strike  of 
1894.  The  Statements  of  the  Pull- 
man Company  and  the  Report  of  the 
Commission,  together  with  an  Analy- 
sis of  the  Issues  and  a  brief  Bibliog- 
raphy. Cambridge.  The  Church 
Social  Union.  1895.  15,  liv.,  46  pp. 
[Publications,  Series  B,  No.  i.]    Svo. 

Bacon,  T.  R.  The  Railroad  Strike  in 
California.  Yale  Review,  Vol.  iii., 
p.  241.     November,  1894. 

Bancroft,  Edgar  A.  The  Chicago 
Strike  of  1894.  Chicago.  Privately 
printed,  1895.     (3),  73  pp.     Svo. 

Bech-Meyer,  Nico.  A  Story  from  Pull- 
mantown.  Chicago,  Kerr,  1894. 
no  pp.     Illus.     i2mo. 

Bible.  The  Book  of  Exodus.  Chapters 
i.-xii. 

An  account  of  the  causes  (i.  8-14;  v.  6-19), 
circumstances  (ii.  11,  12;  vii.  20;  xii.  51), 
and  divinely  approved  methods  (iii.  21,  22; 
vi.  2-8;  xi.  2  ;  xii.  35,  36)  of  the  first  suc- 
cessful strike  recorded  in  history. 

Canntff,  W.  H.  The  Relation  of  the 
Railway  to  its  Employees.  Engineer- 
ing Magazine,  Vol.  viii.,  p.  977. 
March,  1895. 


14 


Eaton,  Charles  H.  Pullman  and  Pater- 
nalism. Amer.  Jour,  of  Politics,  Vol. 
v.,  p.  571.     December,  1894. 

Ely,  Richard  T.  Pullman  :  a  social 
study.  Illus.  Harper's  Magazine, 
Vol.  Ixx.,  p.  452.     February,  1885. 

Fletcher,  Henry  J.  The  Railway  War. 
Atlantic  Montlily,  Vol.  Ixxiv.,  p.  534. 
October,  1894. 

Gary,  George.  A  Proposed  Remedy  for 
Railroad  Troubles.  Amer.  Jour,  of 
Politics,  Vol.  v.,  p.  641.  December, 
1894. 

GoMPERS,  Samuel.  The  Lesson  of  the 
Recent  Strikes.  North  Amer.  Rev., 
Vol.  clix.,  p.  201.     August,  1894. 

—  See  also,  Swinton,  John,     Striking  for 

Life. 

—  See  also  his  evidence  before  the  U.  S. 

Strike  Commission.  Report,  pp.  188- 
205. 

Grant,  Thomas  Burke.  Pullman  and  Its 
Lessons.  Amer.  Jour,  of  Politics, 
Vol.  v.,  p.  190.     August,  1894. 

Greene,  T.  L.  The  Law  of  Strikes. 
Nation,  Vol.  lix.,  p.  281.  Oct.  18, 
1894. 

Hampton,  Wade.  The  Lesson  of  the 
Recent  Strikes.  North  Amer.  Rev., 
Vol.  clix.,  p.  188.     August,  1S94. 

Harte,  Walter  Blackburn.  A  Review  of 
the  Chicago  Strike  of  '94.  Arena, 
Vol.  X.,  p.  497.     September,  1894. 

Hayes,  John  W.  See  Swinton,  John. 
Striking  for  Life. 

HoLST,  H.  von.  Are  we  Awakened  ?  Jour, 
of  Political  Economy,  Vol.  ii.,  p.  485. 
September,  1894. 

Houghton,  W.  R.  George  M.  Pullman 
(In  his  Kings  of  Fortune,  p.  212. 
Chicago,  1886.) 

Howell,  George.  The  Conflicts  of  Cap- 
ital and  Labor  Historically  and  Eco- 
nomically Considered.  2d  ed.  Lon- 
don, Macmillan  &  Co.  1890.  xxxvi., 
536  pp.     Small  8vo. 

Huntington,  Frederick  Dan.  Strikes  — 
the  Right  and  the  Wrong.  New 
York,  Dutton  &  Co.,  1891.  34,  (i) 
pp.     Sq.  i6mo. 

Jeans,  J.  S.  The  Labour  War  in  the 
United  States.  Nineteenth  Century, 
Vol.   xxxvi.,   p.    259.     August,    1S94. 

—  Same.     Eclectic  Magazine,  Vol.  c.xxiii., 

p.  442.     October,  1894. 
Latest  Labor  Crisis,  The.     Yale  Review, 
Vol.  iii.,  p.  113.     August,  1894. 


Leuf,  a.  H.  p.  An  Open  Letter  to  the 
U.  S.  Strike  Commission.  To-day, 
Vol.  i.,  p.  428.     October,  1894. 

McDermot,  George.  The  Pullman  Strike 
Commission.  Catholic  World,  Vol. 
Ix.,  p.  627.     February,  1895. 

McNeil,  George  E.  and  others.  The 
Labor  Movement.  Boston,  Bridgman 
&  Co.,  1886.     xiv,  (4),  650  pp.     8vo. 

Mason,  J,  W.  Pullman  and  its  Real  Les- 
sons. Amer.  Jour,  of  Politics,  Vol. 
v.,  p.  392.     October,  1894. 

Means,  David  McG.  The  Principles  in- 
volved in  the  Recent  Strike.  Forum, 
Vol.  xvii.,  p.  633.     August,  1894. 

Miles,  Nelson  A.  The  Lesson  of  the 
Recent  Strikes.  North  Amer.  Rev., 
Vol.  clix.,  p.  180.     August,  1894. 

Ogden,  R.  The  Report  on  the  Chicago 
Strike.  Nation,  Vol.  lix.,  p.  376. 
Nov.  2.?,  1894. 

Olney,  Richard.  Oral  Argument  of  the 
Attorney-General  in  the  Supreme 
Court,  October  Term,  1894,  £x  parte 
Eugene  V.  Debs  et  al.,  petitioners. 
No.  ir.  Original.  Habeas  corpics. 
[Washington,  Government  printing- 
office,  1894.]     22  pp.     Svo. 

—  The    Pullman  Strike.     (In  the  annual 

report  of  the  Attorney-General  of  the 
United  States  for  the  year  1894.  p, 
xxxi.)  Washington.  Government 
printing-office.     1894.     8vo. 

Parsons,  Frank.  Chicago's  Message  to 
Uncle  Sam.  Arena,  Vol.  x.,  p.  494. 
September,  1894. 

Pullman,  George  M.  The  Strike  at  Pull- 
man. Statements  of  president  Geo. 
M.  Pullman,  and  second  vice-presi- 
dent T.  H.  Wickes,  before  the  U.  S. 
Strike  Commission.  Also  published 
statements  of  the  company  during  the 
continuance  of  the  strike.  Chicago. 
Pullman's  Palace  Car  Co.  1894.  46 
pp.,  Svo. 

—  See  also  their  evidence  before  the  U.  S. 

Strike    Commission.       Report,     pp. 

528-630. 
Reed,  Chester  A.     Peaceable  Boycotting, 

Annals  of  Amer.  Acad,  of   Political 

and    Social    Science,   Vol.  v.,  p.   28. 

July,  1S94. 

Mr.  Reed  discusses  the  attitude  of  the  United 
States  Courts  in  the  recent  railway  strike 
cases,  and  endeavors  to  show  that  their 
almost  uniform  decisions  against  the  em- 
ployees do  not  always  rest  on  a  good  legal 
basis. 


>5 


Robinson,  Harry  P.  The  Lesson  of  the 
Recent  Strikes.  North  Amer.  Rev., 
Vol.  clix.,  p.  195.     August,  1894. 

—  The  Humiliating  Report  of  the  Strike 

Commission.  Forum,  Vol.  xviii.,  p. 
523.     January,  1S95. 

Sanborn,  Frank  B.  The  Year  of  Strange 
Events.  A  Report  as  Secretary  of  the 
Amer.  Social  Science  Assoc.     1894. 

This  report  was  not  printed  in  the  Journal  of 
Social  Science,  Number  xxxi.,  but  may  be 
found  entire  in  the  Spriyigfield  Republican, 
of  Sept.  7,  1894. 

ScHLOSS,  David  F.  Report  of  the  Chi- 
cago Strike  Commission.  Economic 
Journal,  Vol.  v.,  p.  83.     March,  1895. 

Shaw,  Albert.  Editorial  article  in  the 
Review  of  Reviews.  Illus.  Portrs., 
Vol.  X.,  p.  131.     August,  1894. 

Stead,  William  T.  If  Christ  Came  to 
Chicago.  Part  I.  Chap.  iv.  Chi- 
cago, Schulte.     1894. 

—  How  Pullman  was  Built.     (Reprinted 

from  the  above.)  Social  Economist, 
Vol.  vii.,  p.  85.     August,  1894. 

—  Chicago  To-day  ;  or  the  Labour  War 

in  America.  Lond.  Review  of  Re- 
views Office,  1894.  287  pp.  Illus. 
Portrs.  Map.     Sm.  8vo. 

—  Incidents  of  Labour  War  in  America. 

Contemporary  Review,  Vol.  Ixvi.,  p. 
65.     July,  1894. 

—  Same.    Eclectic  Magazine,  Vol.  cx.xiii., 

p.  228.     August,  1894. 

Stoddard,  W.  O.  George  M.  Pullman. 
(In  his  Men  of  Business,  p.  246.  New 
York.     Scribners,  1893.) 

ySwiNTON,  John.     Striking   for   Life;  or. 
Labor's  Side  of  the  Labor  Question. 
Philadelphia,  Keller,  1894.     499   pp. 
Illus.  Portrs.     i2mo. 
An  account  of  the  Chicago  Strike,  containing 
special  articles  by  Samuel  Gompers,  Presi- 
dent of  the  American  Federation  of  Labor; 
Eugene  V.  Debs,  President  of  the  American 
Railway  Union;  John   W.  Hayes,  General 
Secretary  of  the  Knights  of  Labor,  etc. 


Webb,  Sidney  and  Beatrice.  The  History 
of  Trade  Unionism.  London.  Long- 
mans, 1894.     xvi,  558  pp.     8vo. 

Warman,  Cy.  Relations  of  the  Employee 
to  the  Railroad.  Engineering  Maga- 
zine, Vol.  viii.,  p.  985.     March,  1895. 

White,  H.  The  Pullman  Boycott.  Na- 
tion, Vol.  lix.,  p.  5.     July  5,  1894. 

Wright,  Carroll  D.  May  a  Man  Conduct 
his  Business  as  he  Please  ?  Forum, 
Vol.  xviii.,  p.  425.     December,  1894. 

—  Steps  toward   Government  Control  of 

Railroads.  Forum,  Vol.  xviii.,  p.  704. 
February,  1895. 

—  The  Chicago  Strike.     Publications  of 

the  Amer.  Economic  Assoc.  Vol.  ix, 
Pt.  5-6. 

—  The    Significance    of     Recent     Labor 

Troubles.  Inter.  Jour,  of  Ethics. 
Vol.   v.,   p.    137.     January,   1895. 

—  Third  Annual  Report  of  the  Commis- 

sioner of   Labor,  18S7.     Strikes  and 
Lockouts.    Washington.    Gov't  print- 
ing-office, 1887.     1172  pp.     8vo. 
Wright,  Carroll  D.,  and  others.     An  at- 
tractive industrial  experiment.     Mas- 
sachusetts Labor  Report,  1885.     Part 
I.,  pp.  1-26.     Boston,  18S5. 
This  paper  is  based  upon  a  three   days'  so- 
joiirn   of   the   "  annual   convention   of    the 
chiefs    and    commissioners    of    the  various 
bureaus  of  statistics  of  labor  in  the  United 
States,"  at  Pullman  in  September,  1884,  and 
is  signed  by  thirteen  heads   of   State  labor 
bureaus.       It    "is   published   contempora- 
neously with  a  similar  part  in  the  reports  of 
the  other  bureaus  of  the  country." 

—  Same.     See   also   the   following    State 

Labor  Reports:  Illinois,  1883-84; 
Missouri,  New  Jersey,  New  York, 
Ohio,  Pennsylvania,  Wisconsin,  18S4; 
Iowa,  1884-85  ;  Kansas  and  Michigan, 
1885. 

—  Report  on  the  Chicago  Strike  of  June 

and  Jiily,  1894,  by  the  U.  S.  Strike 
Commission,  with  appendices  contain- 
ing testimony,  proceedings,  and  rec- 
ommendations. Washington.  Gov't 
printing-office,  I S95.   liv,  68ipp.   8vo. 

—  Same.     Without   appendices.      Wash- 

ington, 1895.     liv.     pp.    8vo. 


THE  STRIKE  AT  PULLMAN. 


STATEMENTS  OF 

President  GEO.  M.  PULLMAN 

AND 

Second  Vice-President  T.  H.  WICKES, 

BEFORE  THE 

U.  S.  STRIKE  COMMISSION. 


STATEMENT  OF  GEORGE  M.  PULLMAN. 


Preliminary. 

It  is  my  desire  that  the  company  shall  furnish  the  commis- 
sion all  the  facts  in  its  possession  bearing  upon  the  causes  of 
the  strike;  and  with  that  purpose  in  view  the  second  vice- 
president,  Mr.  Wickes,  who  was  in  direct  charge  during  all  the 
time  of  the  strike,  has  prepared  a  statement  covering  all  the 
ground  of  the  controversy,  and  he  is  ready  to  appear  before 
the  commission,  for  the  purpose  of  testifying,  whenever  called. 

I  am  very  glad  to  give  testimony  as  to  the  general  policy  of 
the  company  in  relation  to  what  has  been  done  at  Pullman; 
and  for  that  purpose  I  have  made  a  brief  statement,  which, 
with  the  permission  of  the  commission,  I  will  read  and  submit 
as  my  testimony,  together  with  the  statements  which  I  made 
during  the  pendency  of  the  strike,  and  which  are  published  in 
pamphlet  form. 

Statement. 

The  object  in  building  Pullman  was  the  establishment  of  a 
great  manufacturing  business  on  the  most  substantial  basis 
possible,  recognizing  as  we  did,  and  do  now,  that  the  working 
people  are  the  most  important  element  which  enters  into  the 
successful  operation  of  any  manufacturing  enterprise. 

We  decided  to  build,  in  close  proximity  to  the  shops,  homes 
for  workingmen,  of  such  character  and  surroundings  as  would 
prove  so  attractive  as  to  cause  the  best  class  of  mechanics  to 
seek  that  place  for  employment  in  preference  to  others.  We 
also  desired    to  establish  the    place  on  such   a  basis  as    would 


exclude  all  baneful  influences,  believing  that  such  a  policy  would 
result  in  the  greatest  measure  of  success,  both  from  a  com- 
mercial point  of  view,  and  also,  what  was  equally  important,  or 
perhaps  of  greater  importance,  in  a  tendency  toward  con- 
tinued elevation  and  improvement  of  the  condition  not  only  of 
the  working  people  themselves  but  of  their  children  growing 
up  about  them. 

Accordingly  the  present  location  of  Pullman  was  selected. 
That  region  of  the  county  was  then  very  sparsely  populated,  a 
very  few  hundred  people,  mostly  farmers,  living  within  a  radius 
of  perhaps  a  mile  and  a  half  of  the  site  selected,  where  there 
are  now  living  some  25,000  people. 

It  was  not  the  intention  to  sell  workmen  homes  in  Pullman^ 
but  to  so  limit  the  area  of  the  town  that  they  could  buy  homes^ 
at  convenient  distances  from  the  works,  if  they  chose  to  do  so. 
If  any  lots  had  been  sold  in  Pullman  it  would  have  permitted 
the  introduction  of  the  very  baneful  elements  which  it  was  the 
chief  purpose  to  exclude  from  the  immediate  neighborhood  of 
the  shops  and  from  the  homes  to  be  erected  about  them. 

The  plan  was  to  provide  homes  in  the  first  place  for  all 
people  who  should  desire  to  work  in  the  shops,  at  reasonable 
rentals,  with  the  expectation  that  as  they  became  able,  and 
should  desire  to  do  so,  they  would  purchase  lots  and  erect 
homes  for  themselves  within  convenient  distances,  or  avail 
themselves  of  the  opportunity  to  rent  homes  from  other  people 
who  should  build  in  that  vicinity.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  at  the 
time  of  the  strike,  563  of  the  shop  employes  owned  their 
homes,  and  461  of  that  number  are  now  employed  in  the  shops; 
560  others  at  the  time  of  the  strike  lived  outside,  and  in  addi- 
tion an  estimated  number  of  from  200  to  300  others  employed 
at  Pullman  were  owners  of  their  homes.  The  company  neither 
planned  nor  could  it  exercise  any  municipal  powers  in  Pullman, 
It  was  in  fact  within  the  boundaries  of  what  was  legally  called 
the  village  of  Hyde  Park;  was  several  miles  distant  from  the 
actual  village  as  settled  at  that  time.  The  people  lived  there 
first  under  the  ordinances  of  the  village  of  Hyde  Park,  and  now 
live  under  the  ordinances  of  the  city  of  Chicago,  and  not  at 
any  time  under  the  regulations  of  the  company.  The  relations 
of  those  employed  in  the  shops  are,  as  to  the  shops,  the  rela- 
tions of  employes  to  employer,  and  as  to  those  of  them  and 
others  living  in  the  homes,  the  relations  are  simply  and  only 
the  relations  of  tenant  to  landlord.  The  company  has  not 
now  and  never  has  had  any  interest  whatever  in  the  business 
of  any  of  the  stores  or  shops  in  the  town;  they  are  rented  to 
and  managed  by  outside  parties,  free  of  any  control  by  the 
company.  The  people  living  in  the  town  are  entirely  free  to 
buy  where  they  choose,  and  as  a  matter  of  fact  the  large  dis- 


bursements  in  wages  at  Pullman,  amounting  to  an  average  of 
$2,360,000  a  year  from  September,  1880,  to  July,  1894,  has 
created  a  great  competition  for  the  trade  of  Pullman  in  the 
small  surrounding  towns,  as  well  as  in  Chicago,  the  natural 
result  of  which  would  be  to  bring  the  prices  of  all  merchandise 
down  to  a  minimum. 

In  carrying  out  this  general  plan,  every  care  was  taken  in 
making  perfect  sanitary  conditions  by  a  water  supply  and  an 
extensive  and  scientific  system  of  sewerage,  paved  and  well 
lighted  streets  and  open  places  properly  ornamented  with  trees 
and  shrubbery,  all  of  which  are  kept  in  perfect  repair  and 
cleanliness  by  the  company,  and  at  its  expense.  Due  attention 
was  paid  to  the  convenience  and  general  well  being  of  the  resi- 
dents by  the  erection  of  stores  and  markets,  a  church,  public 
schools,  a  library  and  public  halls  for  lectures  and  amusements; 
also  a  hotel  and  boarding  houses.  The  basis  on  which  rents 
were  fixed  was  to  make  a  return  of  6  per  cent,  on  the  actual  in- 
vestment, which  at  that  time  ( 1881 )  was  a  reasonable  return  to 
be  expected  from  such  an  investment;  and  in  calculating  what, 
for  such  a  purpose,  was  the  actual  investment  in  the  dwellings 
on  the  one  hand  and  the  other  buildings  on  the  other,  an  allow- 
ance was  made  for  the  cost  of  the  streets  and  other  public  im- 
provements, just  as  it  has  to  be  considered  in  the  valuation  of 
any  property  for  renting  anywhere,  all  public  improvements 
having  to  be  paid  for  by  the  owner  of  a  lot,  either  directly  or 
by  special  taxation,  and  by  him  considered  in  the  valuation. 

The  actual  operations  have  never  shown  a  net  return  of  6 
per  cent.,  the  amount  originally  contemplated.  The  invest- 
ment for  several  5'ears  returned  a  net  revenue  of  about  4^  per 
cent.,  but  during  the  last  two  years  additional  taxes  and  heavier 
repairs  have  brought  the  net  revenue  down  to  3  82-100  per  cent. 

Arbitration. 

Of  course  there  are  matters  which  are  proper  subjects  of 
arbitration.  A  matter  of  opinion  may  often  be  a  proper  subject 
of  arbitration,  for  instance,  a  question  of  title.  What 
settlement  shall  be  made  as  to  a  transaction  which  has 
come  to  an  end,  may  be  a  proper  subject  of  arbitration, 
and  the  affair  be  put  at  rest  by  it,  but  as  to  whether  a  fact 
which  I  know  to  be  true,  is  true  or  not,  I  could  not  agree  to 
submit  to  arbitration. 

If  asked  about  the  application  to  the  case  in  hand,  what  I 
would  say  is  this:  That  the  question  as  to  whether  the  shops 
at  Pullman  should  be  continuously  operated  at  a  loss  or  not,  is 
one  which  it  was  impossible  for  the  company,  as  a  matter  of 
principle,  to  submit  to  the  opinion  of  any  third  party,  and  as  to 


whether  they  were  running  at  a  loss  upon  contract  work  in 
general,  as  explained  to  the  committee  of  the  men  in  m}'  inter- 
view with  them,  that  was  a  simple  fact  which  I  knew  to  be  true, 
and  which  could  not  be  made  otherwise  by  the  opinion  of  any 
third  party. 

Disbursements  in  Wages  and  Value  of  Materials. 

From  September,  1880,  to  July  31,  1894,  there  has  been  paid 
to  wage  earners  in  Pullman  $32,847,934.44,  and  there  has  been 
consumed  in  materials  used  in  the  manufacturing  business  in 
that  time  $73, 457,000.68. 

Proportion  of  Employes  who  are  Tenants. 

In  connection  with  the  rents,  I  may  say  that  only  one-third 
of  the  shop  employes  at  the  time  of  the  strike  were  tenants  of 
the  Pullman  company. 

Surplus  OF  Company. 

The  surplus  of  the  company  has  been  accumulating  through 
a  period  of  twenty-seven  years,  in  conformity  with  a  policy  of 
conservatism  adopted  to  keep  the  company  at  all  times  finan- 
cially strong,  so  that  its  owners  would  be  assured  a  regular  and 
permanent  income,  and  confidence  in  the  intrinsic  value  of  the 
company's  securities  would  be  so  established  as  to  make  them 
at  all  times  negotiable  in  the  market,  and  furthermore  to  enable 
the  company  to  meet  just  such  conditions  as  exist  at  this 
time. 

Offer  to  Show  Books. 

I  have  noticed  that  "hearsay"  testimony  has  said  that  I  did 
not  intend  to  show  our  books  and  papers  in  relation  to  con- 
tracts for  work  that  had  been  taken  below  cost.  As  to  this  I 
desire  to  say  that  the  offer  was  made  in  good  faith,  and  was 
not,  nor  would  have  been,  repudiated  by  me. 


II STATEMENT  OF  T.  H.  WICKES. 


We  have  thought  that  in  considering  the  relations  of  the 
Pullman  company  to  the  recent  strike,  the  commission  would 
deem  pertinent  a  statement,  as  brief  as  possible,  of  the  situ- 
ation of  the  manufacturing  affairs  of  the  company  for  a  short 
period  prior  to  last  May,  to  precede  what  we  shall  think 
it   of    consequence   to   say   respecting  the   strike   itself,    and 


5 

any  other  matters  which  have  been  alluded  to  before  the  com- 
mission. 

The  commission  no  doubt  is  aware  that  the  principal  busi- 
ness of  the  company  is  the  operation  of  its  sleeping  car  ser- 
vice, which  covers  about  125,000  miles  of  railway,  being  about 
three-fourths  of  the  railway  system  of  the  country.  Its  manu- 
facturing business  consists  primarily  of  the  manufacturing  and 
repairing  of  the  company's  own  cars,  to  which  is  added  the 
manufacture,  for  sale,  of  railway  cars  of  every  sort.  The  com- 
pany has  shops  v/hich  are  operated  exclusively  for  the  repairs 
of  its  own  cars,  at  Wilmington,  Del.,  where  there  are  ordinarily 
engaged  about  700  employes;  at  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  where  there 
are  ordinarily  engaged  about  360  employes,  and  at  Ludlow, 
Ky.,  where  are  ordinarily  engaged  about  130  employes.  It  has 
also  a  large  manufacturing  plant  at  Detroit,  Mich.,  which  has 
been  operated  until  about  a  year  ago  for  the  manufacture  of 
passenger  and  sleeping  cars.  The  Detroit  shops  were  closed 
in  August,  1893,  in  consequence  of  the  great  depression  in 
business,  and  in  order  to  concentrate  all  car  building  at  Pull- 
man, and  they  have  not  been  reopened.  The  number  of 
employes  ordinaf-ily  engaged  at  the  Detroit  shops  was  800  or 
900. 

The  principal  manufacturing  and  repair  shops  of  the  com- 
pany are  located  at  Pullman,  and  have  been  in  operation  about 
twelve  years.  The  largest  number  of  employes  engaged  at  any 
one  time  in  those  shops  alone  was  about  4,800.  Besides  the 
employes  of  the  car  shops  at  Pullman  there  are  about  1,000 
other  employes  of  the  company  at  Pullman  who  have  been  in- 
cluded in  some  of  the  totals  given  in  the  published  statements 
of  the  company;  there  is  no  occasion  to  refer  to  them  at  this 
time,  and  all  the  statements  I  am  about  to  make  refer  to  the 
car  shop  employes  only,  and,  unless  otherwise  stated,  to  those 
employed  at  Pullman. 

The  average  number  of  names  on  the  pay  roll  for  the  shops 
at  Pullman  for  our  fiscal  year  ending  July  31,  1893,  was  4,497, 
and  the  amount  of  earnings  paid  was  $2,760,548.99,  making  an 
average  amount  for  each  employe,  for  the  year,  of  $6 13.86. 

On  July  I,  1893,  2,425  employes  of  the  company  at  Pullman 
(including  some  employes  outside  of  the  shops)  were 
depositors  in  the  savings  department  of  the  Pullman  Loan  & 
Savings  bank  at  Pullman,  the  aggregate  of  the  amounts  to  their 
credit  being  ^582, 380.39,  or  nearly  nine-tenths  of  the  total  sav- 
ings deposits  then  on  hand — $657,347.64.  On  May  i,  1894,  such 
depositors  numbered  1,679,  ^'""^  their  aggregate  credits  wove 
$422,834.34,  or  nearly  nine-tenths  of  the  total  savings  deposits 
then  on  hand — $489,028.18. 

It  has  been  stated   before  the   commission  that  nine-tenths 


of  the  work  at  the  shops  is  Pullman  work,  leaving  only  one- 
tenth  for  contract  work.  If  such  a  statement  happened  to  be 
true  for  any  given  period,  it  would  be  because  practically  no 
contract  work  was  obtainable.  The  facts  are  that  Pullman 
car  repair  work  requires  a  force  of  about  800  at  the  Pullman 
shops.  In  a  normal  year  like  1891,  about  the  same  number  in 
addition  would  be  kept  at  work  building  Pullman  cars,  but  that 
work  has  come  to  a  practical  stop,  as  the  company  has  about 
400  Pullman  cars  in  storage  for  which  there  is  no  need  under 
existing  conditions  of  travel.  In  such  a  normal  year  also  there 
would  be  about  2,800  employed  on  contract  work.  Therefore, 
instead  of  10  per  cent,  of  the  force  being  employed  normally 
on  contract  work,  the  proportion  should  be  about  64  per  cent. 
Of  course,  the  percentage  of  those  employed  on  contract  work 
would  keep  running  down  as  fast  as  contract  work  was  finished, 
if  the  company  was  prevented  by  the  scale  of  wages  from 
making  acceptable  proposals  for  new  work  to  railway  com- 
panies, or  in  the  absence  of  any  demand  for  new  work.  This 
is  practically  illustrated  by  the  figures  which  Mr.  Pullman,  the 
president  of  the  company,  gave  the  committee  of  employes 
last  May. 

The  great  business  depression  of  the  summer  of  1 893  affected 
us  at  once.  We  closed  our  Detroit  shops  ;  we  stopped  building 
new  cars  for  ourselves,  for  we  had  a  large  surplus  of  them,  and 
that  fact  laid  off  a  great  many  employes.  Negotiations  with 
intending  purchasers  of  railway  equipment  that  were  pending 
for  new  contract  work  were  stopped  by  them  ;  orders  already 
given  by  others  were  cancelled  ;  and  during  the  month  of 
August,  1893,  the  company  was  not  invited  to  make  a  bid  on  a 
single  proposal  for  new  work,  large  or  small.  By  October  i, 
we  had  the  opportunity  of  making  six  bids  for  new  work  at 
prices  aggregating  $211,465.50,  and  these  bids  showed  an  aggre- 
gate net  loss  of  nearly  $1,700  over  the  shop  cost,  one  of  them 
being  made  at  a  loss  of  over  $3,200.  Only  three  of  our  six  bids 
were  accepted.  On  the  bid  showing  the  greatest  loss,  which 
was  for  300  freight  cars,  constituting  three-fourths  of  all  the 
work  we  bid  for,  we  were  underbid,  and  the  contract  was 
awarded  elsewhere. 

In  giving  these  figures  and  the  figures  which  I  am  going  on 
to  give,  I  desire  to  say  distinctly  and  explicitly,  that  by  "shop 
cost"  I  mean  the  cost  of  any  work  spoken  of,  excluding  any 
element  of  charge  for  depreciation  of  machinery  or  plant,  or 
for  interest  on  the  value  of  machinery  or  plant,  or  for  interest 
on  the  capital  invested  or  employed  in  any  way.  The  esti- 
mated shop  cost,  or  the  shop  cost  ascertained  after  the  com- 
pletion of  any  work,  contains  no  such  element  in  any  case  in 
this  statement. 


During  October,  the  experience  of  the  company  was  similar. 
Only  eleven  chances  for  bidding  occurred,  and  they  aggregated 
-;S253, 804.34.  Among  them  were  100  cars  bid  for  at  an  estimated 
loss  over  shop  cost  of  $1,966,  and  100  cars  bid  for  at  cost,  the 
bids  aggregating  $142,875,  all  of  which  w^ent  to  lower  bidders. 
In  all,  we  got  in  that  month  seven  contracts  under  our  bids, 
showing  an  aggregate  net  profit  of  only  $1,141.94  over  shop 
cost.  We  had  thus  in  six  weeks  been  underbid  on  $300,000 
worth  of  freight  car  work  in  three  lots,  besides  other  work  of 
less  importance.  Of  passenger  car  work,  only  ten  street  cars 
had  been  offered,  on  all  of  which  we  were  underbid.  The  result 
was  that,  including  our  employes  engaged  on  repairs,  there 
were  on  November  i,  not  1,100  employes  in  all  departments  of 
the  shops.  The  president  of  the  company  realized  the  neces- 
sity for  the  most  strenuous  exertions  to  procure  work  imme- 
diately, without  which  there  would  be  great  embarrassment, 
not  only  to  the  employes  and  their  families  at  Pullman,  but 
also  to  those  living  in  the  immediate  vicinity,  including  between 
500  and  600  employes  who  had  purchased  homes,  and  to  whom 
-employment  was  actually  necessary  to  enable  them  to  complete 
their  payments. 

He  canvassed  the  matter  thoroughly  with  the  manager  of 
the  works,  and  instructed  him  to  cause  the  men  to  be  assured 
that  the  company  would  do  everything  in  its  power  to  meet 
the  competition  which  was  sure  to  occur  because  of  the  great 
number  of  large  car  manufacturers  who  were  in  the  same  con- 
dition, and  who  were  exceedingly  anxious  to  keep  their  men 
employed.  We  knew  that  if  there  was  any  work  to  be  let,  bids 
for  it  would  be  made  upon  a  much  lower  basis  than  ever  before. 
The  result  of  this  discussion  was  a  revision  in  the  day  rate  of 
wages,  and  consequently  also  in  piece  work  prices,  making 
reductions  which,  in  the  absence  of  any  information  to  the 
contrary,  were  supposed  to  be  acceptable  to  the  employes, 
under  the  circumstances.  Under  these  conditions,  and  with 
lower  prices  upon  all  materials,  Mr.  Pullman  personally  under- 
took the  work  of  getting  contracts  for  building  cars,  and  by 
making  lower  bids  than  other  manufacturers,  we  secured  work 
enough  to  gradually  increase  our  force  from  1,100  up  to  nearly 
3,300,  the  number  employed  according  to  the  April  pay-rolls 
in  all  capacities  at  the  shops. 

Under  what  difficulties  this  was  done  may  be  seen  from  a 
further  generalization  of  the  statement  which  we  have  made 
from  our  records,  showing  for  the  period  beginning  August  i, 
1893,  every  work  offered  the  company,  its  estimated  (and, 
where  possible,  the  actual)  cost,  our  bid  thereon,  and  the  profit 
or  loss  over  shop  cost  in  each  case.  This  table  I  present  to 
the  commission.     It  shows  the  effort  the  company  was  making 


to  keep  its  employes  at  work,  and  it  shows,  at  a  mere  glance^ 
tliat  for  the  period  beginning  February  13  and  ending  April  12, 
every  bid  (except  as  to  one  insignificant  job)  was  made  by  the 
company  at  a  loss,  often  very  large. 

In  November,  we  got  an  order  for  250  cars  at  an  estimated 
profit  of  less  than  Si,000  on  the  job;  and  for  25  passenger  cars 
at  a  loss  of  nearly  $2,000.  We  were  underbid  on  100  provision 
cars,  although  our  bid  was  at  a  loss  of  over  $2,000. 

In  December,  we  got  an  order  for  300  stock  cars  at  an 
estimated  loss  of  $8  per  car,  whicl\  on  completion  showed  an 
actual  loss  of  $12  per  car.  We  got  also  an  order  ^or  55  pas- 
senger cars,  of  which  25  had  been  completed  just  before  the 
strike,  showing  an  actual  loss  of  $399  per  car.  VVe  were  undei- 
bid  on  103  freight  cars,  and  on  10  street  cars  offered  by  us  £t 
less  than  shop  cost.  It  is  to  be  remembered  that  these  thing  > 
occurred  on  bids  based  upon  the  reduced  scale  of  wages. 

In  January,  1894,  we  were  underbid  on  200  refrigerator  car?, 
and  100  provision  cars,  although  each  of  our  bids  was  at  a  loss, 
the  aggregate  loss  being  $5,893.  In  that  month  we  took  orders, 
some  at  a  loss,  some  at  a  profit,  but  the  net  loss  was  $3,584.66 
over  the  shop  cost. 

In  February,  we  were  underbid  on  51  street  cars,  bid  for  by 
us  at  a  loss  of  $37  per  car,  and  on  lOO  refrigerator  cars  bid  for  by 
us  at  a  loss  of  $66  per  car,  and  we  got  only  three  orders,  two  of 
them  showing  a  profit  of  $927.48,  and  the  other,  for  lOO- 
elevated  road  cars,  showing  a  loss  of  $148  per  car. 

Our  bids  for  March  were  all  at  a  loss,  excepting  in  one  case 
where  the  estimated  profit  is  $37.74.  The  aggregate  loss  on 
all  the  other  bids  was  $23,061.11  and  the  contracts  taken  show 
a  loss  of  $15,044.92.  We  were  underbid  on  100  street  cars 
where  our  bid  showed  a  loss  of  over  $70  per  car. 

In  April,  we  were  underbid  on  272  street  cars  and  got  con- 
tracts for  75  at  a  loss  of  over  $1,500.  We  were  underbid  ort 
six  passenger  cars  and  got  contracts  for  six  at  an  aggregate- 
loss  of  $1,759.99. 

To  sum  up:  From  August  i,  1893,  to  May  i,  1894,  our  net 
loss  on  accepted  bids  was  $52,069.03,  and  the  net  estimated  loss 
on  unaccepted  bids  was  $18,303.56.  We  had  tried  to  get  work 
for  our  employes  by  bidding  for  work  the  estimated  shop 
cost  of  which  was  $2,775,481.81,  and  we  only  got  contracts 
for  work,  the  estimated  shop  cost  of  which  is  $1,421,205.75, 
We  had  been  underbid  on  work,  the  estimated  shop  cost  of 
which  was  $1,354,276.06,  notwithstanding  that  our  bids  on 
$1,057,355.97  of  that  amount  not  only  excluded  all  profit,  but 
showed  a  loss,  based  though  they  were  on  the  reduced  scale  of 
wages. 

The  irregularity  of  business  was  such  that  during  this  period 


we  could  keep  no  constant  force  employed,  and  we  could  not 
possibly  keep  all  employed  who  had  become  used  to  looking 
to  us  for  work.  It  was  hoped  that  affairs  would  improve,  and, 
therefore,  rather  than  discharge  absolutely  a  large  number  of 
men,  we  tried  to  give  all  of  them  some  work.  The  result  is 
one  portion  of  the  complaints  that  have  been  laid  before  the 
commission. 

Take  the  case  of  the  witness  Coombs,  for  example.  By  a 
table  which  I  will  present  to  the  commission  later,  in  another 
connection,  it  will  be  seen  that  his  rate  of  earnings  in  April, 
1893,  was  25  cents  per  hour,  and  for  the  last  four  months  he 
worked  it  was  211^  cents  per  hour.  It  will  be  seen,  however, 
that  for  the  year  ending  April,  30,  1894,  the  number  of  hours 
in  which  he  was  employed  was  scarcely  more  than  half  work- 
ing time,  so  that  his  earnings  in  gross  were  $345.68,  an  amount 
which  of  course  is  not  to  be  judged  as  though  he  had  been 
working  full  time.  Such  things  were  impossible  to  be  avoided. 
There  was  simply  not  work  enough  to  go  around. 

In  this  condition  of  affairs,  on  the  7th  of  May  last,  a  com- 
mittee of  the  workmen  had  an  interview,  by  arrangement,  with 
myself.  This  committee  numbered  about  forty  and  was  under- 
stood to  embrace  representatives  from  all  departments  of  the 
shops.  The  principal  subject  presented  by  the  committee  tor 
discussion  was  that  of  the  existing  scale  of  wages,  but  minor 
grievances,  as  to  shop  administration,  were  also  presented,  and 
it  was  agreed  that  another  meeting  should  be  held  two  days 
later,  at  which  all  the  shop  grievances  should  be  presented  in 
writing.  At  the  second  meeting  it  was  arranged  that  as  to  the 
complaints  on  all  matters  except  wages  a  formal  and  thorough 
investigation  should  be  made  by  myself,  to  be  begun  the  next 
day,  and  full  redress  was  assured  to  the  committee  as  to  all 
complaints  proved  to  be  well  founded.  I  had  explained  to  the 
committee  the  absolute  necessity  of  the  reductions  in  wages 
under  the  existing  conditions  of  the  business  of  car  manu- 
facture, and  they  were  insisting  upon  a  general  restoration  of 
the  wage  scale  of  the  first  half  of  the  year  1893,  when  the 
president  of  the  company  entered  the  room  and  addressed  the 
committee  in  terms  the  substance  of  which  was  published  at 
the  time,  and  is  a  part  of  the  statement  at  page  one  of  the 
compilation  of  statements  of  the  company,  a  copy  of  which  I 
present  to  the  commission  to  show  what  was  said  and  published 
by  authority  of  the  company  during  the  strike. 

I  may  observe  here  that  the  president  of  the  company 
wishes  me  to  say  emphatically  that  there  is  no  foundation  for 
the  statements  made  before  the  commission  that  he  in  any  way 
repudiated  the  offer  he  made  to  the  men  in  addressing  them, 
that  to  satisfy  themselves  as  to  the  condition  of   affairs  which 


he  presented  to  them  they  imj,^ht  have  an  inspection  of  our 
contracts  in  hand  and  the  books  relating  to  them.  This  would 
have  been  cheerfully  given,  but  the  subject  was  never  brought 
up  afterward  by  our  workmen  in  consequence  of  the  strike 
being  almost  immediately  declared. 

On  the  lOth  of  May,  the  day  after  the  second  conference, 
work  went  on  as  usual  at  the  shops,  and  I,  assisted  by  Mr. 
Brown,  the  general  manager  of  the  company,  began  at  Pullman 
the  promised  formal  investigation  of  the  shop  complaints,  and 
we  devoted  a  half  of  that  day  to  the  work,  and  we  there 
publicly  stated  our  intention  to  so  continue  from  day  to  day, 
devoting  a  half  of  each  working  day  to  that  business  until 
completed.  A  large  meeting  of  the  employes  had  been  held  at 
Kensington  the  night  before,  which,  as  was  understood  by  the 
officers  of  the  company,  accepted  the  necessity  of  the  situation 
as  preventing  any  increase  in  wages,  but  at  a  meeting  of  the 
local  committee  of  the  American  Railway  Union,  held  during 
the  night  of  May  lO,  a  strike  was  decided  upon,  and  accord- 
ingly, early  the  next  day  about  2,500  of  the  shop  employes 
quitted  their  work,  leaving,  besides  the  supervising  and  clerical 
force,  about  600  at  work,  among  whom  very  few  were  skilled 
workmen.  As  it  was  found  impracticable  to  keep  the  shops  in 
operation  with  a  force  thus  disorganized,  the  workmen  remain- 
ing were  the  same  day  necessarily  laid  off  and  the  shops  re- 
mained idle  until  August  2nd,  instant. 

We  took  the  necessary  steps  at  once  to  provide  for 
ourselves  the  protection  for  the  company's  property,  usual 
under  such  circumstances.  We  do  not  know  of  guards  for  the 
works  having  been  put  on  by  the  strikers,  as  has  been  testif^.ed 
by  several  witnesses,  but  we  would  understand  that  any  of 
their  men  claiming  to  be  so  acting  would  really  be  engaged  in 
what  is  called  picketing  against  the  employment  of  new  men. 
As  we  did  not  try  to  get  new  men,  that  work,  if  performed, 
was  useless. 

Testimony  has  been  given  before  the  commission  that  the 
immediate  cause  of  the  strike  was  the  discharge  of  three 
employes  contrary  to  the  assurance  I  had  given  to  the  committee 
of  workmen  that  none  of  them  should  be  affected  by  their  serv- 
ing on  the  committee.  I  gave  such  an  assurance  upon  request, 
and  with  entire  willingness,  and  it  was  not  violated,  and  no  such 
complaint  was  ever  made,  I  think,  to  any  official  of  the  company. 
There  were  forty-three  members  of  the  committee  at  the  con- 
ference'on  May  9,  and  on  May  10  it  happened  that  in  tempor- 
arily "laying  off"  men  for  whom  there  was  no  immediate 
work,  three  men  were  included  who  were  said  to  have  been  on 
the  committee,  as  to  each  of  whom  the  subordinate  officials 
concerned   deny  that  they  at  the  time  knew  he  was  on  the 


committee  and  say  that  the  layini^  off  was  caused  by  nothing 
but  the  ordinary  course  of  business.  I  present  the  sworn  state- 
ments of  the  subordinate  officials  on  the  subject,  and  they  are 
themselves  present  for  such  examination  as  the  commission 
may  desire  to  make. 

We  have  heard,  in  a  vague  way,  of  another  or  different 
alleged  cause  for  the  strike.  The  rumor  as  to  this  was  that 
some  of  the  leaders  in  the  agitation  claimed  to  have  learned 
from  a  telegraph  operator  that  in  the  night  of  May  lo  he  over- 
heard passing  on  the  wire  a  telegraphic  order  from  an  officer 
of  the  company  in  Chicago  to  the  local  manager  at  Pullman, 
ordering  a  "  lockout"  at  noon  the  next  day;  that  this  informa- 
tion was  circulated,  and  that  the  strikers  went  out  the  next 
morning  in  order  to  establish  the  status  of  a  "  strike  "  instead 
of  a  "  lockout," 

As  to  this  rumor  I  can  only  say  that  no  such  order  was 
ever  made  or  thought  of  by  any  officer  of  the  company. 

We  learned  in  various  ways  that  soon  after  the  beginning  of 
the  strike  at  Pullman  the  American  Railway  Union  officials 
sent  emissaries  to  our  shops  at  Wilmington,  Del.,  at  St.  Louis, 
Mo.,  and  at  Ludlow,  Ky.,  to  recruit  our  employes  at  those 
places,  so  far  as  possible,  into  the  American  Railway  Union 
organization,  our  information  being  that  it  was  the  intention  of 
those  officials  to  cause  strikes  to  be  declared  at  each  of  those 
places  as  soon  as  the  strength  of  their  local  organizations  at 
those  shops,  which  they  were  endeavoring  to  create,  should  be 
sufficient.     The  results  were  as  follows: 

According  to  our  information  only  about  50  of  our  employes 
at  Wilmington  joined  the  American  Railway  Union,  and  the 
body  of  our  employes  apparently  took  very  little  interest  in 
the  matter,  and  the  prosecution  of  our  ordinary  business  was 
not  in  any  way  interrupted.  The  rates  of  wages  are  substantially 
the  same  at  our  Wilmington  and  other  shops  as  at  the  Pullman 
shops. 

At  our  St,  Louis  shops  the  recruiting  of  the  American  Rail- 
way Union  was  more  successful,  and  a  strike  took  place  on 
June  25th.  There  were  then  371  men  at  work,  and  of  this 
number  291  went  out,  it  being  our  information  that  about  275 
of  them  had  become  members  of  the  American  Railway  Union. 
The  work  at  these  shops  continued  with  the  reduced  force,  and 
we  began  immediately  to  recruit  it  and  secured  all  the  employes 
we  needed  within  about  two  weeks.  About  60  of  the  striking 
employes  were  reemployed.  No  disorder  occurred  about  our 
shops  there,  and  we  have  no  information  of  any  assaults  or 
indignities  upon  those  who  entered  or  remarned  in  our  employ- 
ment. 

At  our  Ludlow  shops  a  strike  took  place  on  the  same  date, 


June  25,  under  the  auspices  of  the  American  Railway  Union,  72 
men  going  out  of  our  force  of  1 26  men.  These  shops  are  adjacent 
to  the  yards  of  the  Cincinnati  Southern  railway  company. 
We  recruited  our  force  somewhat  and  continued  operations 
there  until  July  3,  at  which  time  there  was  a  strike  in  progress' 
in  those  yards,  also  under  the  auspices  of  the  American  Rail- 
way Union.  We  had  then  about  lOO  men  at  work,  but  in  con- 
sequence of  the  intimidation  of  our  men  and  owing  to  the  lack 
of  public  protection,  it  was  decided  to  close  the  shops  on  July 
3,  and  they  remained  closed  until  July  16,  when  work  was 
resumed  with  a  force  of  lOO  men,  which  was  almost  immedi- 
ately increased  to  the  full  complement  by  the  engagement  of 
new  men.  If  any  of  the  striking  employes  afterward  applied 
for  reemployment,  there  was  no  room  for  them. 

Reverting  to  the  strike  at  the  Pullman  shops  on  May  il, 
the  only  incidents  which  occurred  thereafter  which  I  consider 
worthy  of  note,  were  as  follows:  On  June  i  two  members  of 
the  civic  federation  called  upon  me  to  consider  some  methods 
of  conciliation  and  arbitration.  I  explained  the  situation  to 
them  and  informed  them  that  we  did  not  consider  there  was 
any  proper  subject  for  arbitration.  On  the  next  day  two  Other 
members  of  the  civic  federation  called,  and  we  had  a  similar 
discussion. 

On  the  15th  of  June,  twelve  persons  calling  themselves  a 
committee  from  the  American  Railway  Union,  called  upon  me 
to  request  that  there  should  be  an  arbitration.  I  informed 
them  in  reply  that  the  company  declined  to  consider  any  com- 
munication from  the  American  Railway  Union  as  representing 
the  former  employes  of  the  company. 

On  the  next  day  a  committee  of  six  of  our  former  employes 
called  upon  me  and  requested  that  there  should  be  an  arbitra- 
tion. I  informed  them  that  we  did  not  consider  that  there  was 
any  proper  subject  for  arbitration. 

On  the  22d  of  June,  Messrs.  F.  E.  Pollans,  B.  W.  Lovejoy 
and  C.  A.  Timlin,  claiming  to  be  a  committee  of  three  of  the 
American  Railway  Union,  called  upon  me  and  stated  that  they 
were  instructed  to  notify  the  Pullman  company  that  unless  it 
agreed  to  arbitration  a  boycott  would  be  declared  to  stop  the 
running  of  Pullman  cars,  taking  effect  at  12  o'clock  noon, 
Tuesday,  the  26th  day  of  June.  I  replied  to  this  statement 
that  the  company  declined  to  consider  any  communication 
from  the  American  Railway  Union  on  the  subject. 

This  threatened  action  by  the  American  Railway  Union  was 
made  known  widely  through  the  public  press,  and  Mr.  Pullman 
deemed  it  proper  to  make  public  a  statement  of  all  the  circum- 
stances.    Accordingly  such  a  statement  was  published  in  the 


13 

daily  newspapers  of  Chicago  on  the  morning  of  June  26,  the 
day  set  by  the  American  Railway  Union  delegates  for  the  mak- 
ing of  their  threatened  attempt.  This  statement  is  the  first 
paper  in  the  compilation  of  statements,  a  copy  of  which  I 
have  already  presented  to  the  commission. 

Itmaybesaid  herethattheGeneral  Managers' association  had 
met  on  the  day  before  in  consequence  of  the  public  knowledge 
of  the  threatened  attempt  of  the  American  Railway  Union,  and 
had  adopted  the  resolutions  which  are  shown  on  page  six  of 
the  compilation  of  statements  which  I  have  mentioned.  I 
happened  to  have,  after  June  22,  a  conference  on  an  ordinary 
matter  of  business  with  one  of  the  members  of  the  General 
Managers'  association,  and  he  told  me  of  the  intended  meet- 
ing and  invited  me  to  be  present  at  the  meeting.  I  was  there- 
fore present,  but  of  course  without  taking  any  part  in  it.  I 
may  say  here  that  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  the  strike 
the  General  Managers'  association  acted  throughout  in  entire 
independence  of  our  company,  as  we  did  in  entire  independ- 
ence of  the  association,  and  that  there  was  at  no  time  any  con- 
ference or  suggestion  as  to  the  matter  fixjm  the  association  to 
our  company  or  from  our  company  to  the  association. 

From  this  time  on  public  attention  was  chiefly  attracted  by 
the  conflict  of  the  American  Railway  Union  with  the  railway's 
of  the  country  attacked  by  it. 

On  July  5,  there  appeared  in  the  Nevi'  York  Siifi  an  author- 
ized "interview"  with  Mr.  Pullman,  a  copy  of  which  is  at  page 
seven  of  the  compilation  of  statements  to  which  I  ha\'c 
referred. 

On  July  7,  Mr.  Lawrence,  a  director  of  the  First  National 
bank,  Chicago,  called  upon  me  to  confer  as  to  bringing  about 
a  meeting  at  my  office  between  myself  and  a  committee  of  the 
former  employes  of  the  company.  I  told  him  that  I  would  be 
very  glad  to  receive  such  a  committee,  but  I  never  heard  of  the 
matter  afterwards. 

Two  days  later,  Aldermen  McGillen,  Marrener,  Mulhoeffer 
and  Powers,  with  three  delegates  from  labor  unions,  called  upon 
me  to  discuss  the  matter  of  arbitration.  I  told  them  that  we 
were  not  able  to  consider  the  question  of  arbitration. 

On  the  nth  of  July,  Mayor  Pingree,  of  Detroit,  and  Mayor 
Hopkins  and  Mr.  Erskine  Phelps,  of  Chicago,  called  upon  me, 
also  to  discuss  the  matter  of  arbitration.  A  protracted  friendl)^ 
discussion  of  the  matter  followed  between  us,  in  which  I  set 
forth  to  these  gentlemen  our  reasons  for  believing  that  the 
question  at  issue,  which  was  simply  that  of  reopening  the  shops 
at  Pullman,  and  carrying  them  on  at  a  ruinous  loss,  was  not  a 
proper  subject  for  arbitration. 

On  July  14,  the  principal  newspapers  of  the  country  pub- 


14 

lished  a  statement  by  Mr.  Pullman,  of  which  a  copy  is  at  page 
eleven  of  the  compilation  of  statements  to  which  I  have 
referred. 

By  this  time  the  measures  taken  to  restore  public  order  had 
put  an  end  to  all  serious  disturbance  of  railway  travel,  and  the 
disorders  which  had  been  so  violent  in  different  parts  of 
Chicago  for  more  than  two  weeks  had  so  far  come  to  an  end, 
that  the  propriety  of  making  an  effort  to  end  the  abnormal 
situation  at  Pullman,  by  resuming  work  at  the  car  shops,  was 
taken  up  and  considered,  and  in  consequence  on  July  i8,  the 
management  caused  to  be  posted  on  the  gates  of  the  Pullman 
shops  the  following  notice  : 

"These  shops  will  be  opened  as  soon  as  the  number  of 
operatives  taken  on  is  sufficient  to  make  a  working  force  in  all 
departments." 

The  receiving  of  applications  for  employment  proceeded 
gradually  from  that  time  on  until  the  24th  of  August,  at  which 
time  the  number  of  employes  on  the  rolls  at  the  shops  was 
2,337,  of  whom  1,778  were  former  employes  of  the  company 
and  559  were  new  employes.  The  first  opening  for  work  was 
August  2,  in  the  repair  department  ;  the  other  departments  of 
the  shops  were  opened  gradually,  as  the  respective  forces 
became  sufficient. 

It  is  proper  that  I  should  say  that  no  injury  of  any  sort  was 
done  or  attempted  upon  the  company's  property  at  Pullman 
during  the  strike.  For  a  few  days  after  the  opening  of  the 
shops,  there  were  personal  indignities  and  assaults  committed 
upon  a  number  of  our  employes  ;  but  a  quiet  condition"  of 
affairs  was  soon  brought  about  by  the  efficient  action  of  the 
police,  under  the  command  of  Inspector  Hunt,  Captain  Powers 
and  Lieutenant  Bassett,  supported  by  the  presence  of  several 
companies  of  the  First  Regiment  of  the  National  Guard  of 
Illinois. 

I  will  now  add  to  this  statement  of  general  facts  some  state- 
ments upon  some  details  of  the  affairs  of  the  company  upon 
which  the  commission  has  heard  testimony. 

It  is  clearly  an  economical  impossibility  that  the  manufac- 
turing of  any  given  class  of  cars  for  sale  can  be  carried  on  at 
Pullman  for  any  length  of  time,  if  the  wages  of  car  builders 
there  are  such  that  the  actual  cost  of  labor  and  material  for 
that  class  of  cars  is  higher  than  at  reputable  competing  shops. 
It  is  idle  to  talk  of  the  company  carrying  on  the  business  of 
building  and  selling  cars  at  a  loss,  and  paying  the  losses  out  of 
the  income  from  a  distinct  business.  The  bidding  for  and 
taking  of  contracts  at  a  loss,  which  I  have  detailed,  were  done 
in  the  hope  that  we  could  bridge  over  an  emergency  and  keep 


15 

our  force  together  until  work  could  be  had  at  prices  based 
upon  ordinary  business  principles.  The  company  cannot  long 
go  on  rtiaking  proposals  for  less  than  cost.  If  by  the  rate  of 
wages  the  cost  is  kept  too  high  for  successful  competition  in 
car  building,  the  result  is  inevitable  ;  contracts  are  not  made, 
work  ceases,  and  the  men  must  be  laid  off  indefinitely.  The 
economic  law  is  inexorable,  and  on  a  falling  market  producers 
must  do  one  of  two  things — lower  their  prices  or  cease  to 
produce,  which  means  Simply  that  plants  must  lie  idle  and 
workmen  go  without  work. 

To  show  the  general  reduction  in  the  selling  prices  of 
various  kinds  of  cars  in  recent  years,  I  present  a  statement 
showing  such  prices,  from  which  it  will  be  seen  that  there  has 
been  a  reduction  in  every  class,  which  varies  from  more  than 
28  per  cent,  down  to  18  per  cent.,  the  average  reduction  on  all 
classes  taken  together  being  24  per  cent. 

The  average  reduction  in  wages  has  not  been  so  much.  I 
present  two  statements,  one  for  the  month  of  April,  1893,  and 
the  other  for  the  month  of  April,  1894,  showing  for  each  class 
of  journeymen  mechanics  the  number  of  men  employed,  the 
number  of  hours  employed,  and  the  actual  wages  earned  and 
paid.     From  this   it  will  be  seen  that  for  the  month  of  April, 

1893,  the  average  pay  of  all  the  journeymen  mechanics  in  the 
shops  was  at  the  rate  of  ^2.63  per  day  of  ten  hours,  and  that 
for  the  month  of  April,  1894,  the  average  pay  per  day  of  ten 
hours  to  each  journeyman  mechanic  was  S2.03,  and  not  $1.50, 
as  testified  by  the  witness  Heathcote.  This  statement  shows 
that  the  reduction  of  the  average  daily  rate  of  earnings  of 
journeymen  mechanics  between  April,  1893,  ^^^  April,  1894, 
was  22  8-10  per  cent. 

I  present  also  similar  tables  for  all  other  shop  employes, 
excluding  superintendents,  foremen  and  the  shop  office  force, 
showing  an  average  reduction  between  April,  1893,  and  April, 

1894,  of  1 1  ^  per  cent. 

Considering  all  the  shop  workmen  together — that  is,  exclud- 
ing from  the  pay-roll  all  the  superintendents,  foremen  and  shop 
office  force — the  reduction  of  the  average  daily  rate  of  earnings 
between  April,  1893,  and  April,  1894,  was  19  per  cent. 

Miss  Curtis,  as  a  representative  of  the  sewing  women,  has 
made  especial  complaint  before  the  commission  in  respect  to 
the  reduction  in  the  piece  price  on  carpets  for  sleeping  cars, 
the  proportionate  reduction  in  the  piece  price  for  that  work 
being  very  large.  She  complains  that  a  carpet,  for  the  making 
of  which  the  piece  price  in  1893,  was  $8.10,  was  so  reduced  that 
in  1894  it  was  ^1.80. 

The  explanation  is  this.  Piece  prices  are  based  upon  a 
reasonable  rate  per  hour  for  work  done.    It  was  discovered,  and 


i6 

admitted  by  Miss  Curtis  herself  in  an  interview  with  an  ofificer 
of  the  company,  that  she  is  a  slow  worker,  but  could  make  one 
of  these  carpets  in  i6  hours  work,  which  at  a  piece  price  of 
SS.io  would  give  earnings  at  the  rate  of  50  cents  per  hour. 
This  showed  a  manifest  error  in  the  price  assigned,  and  the 
piece  price  was  reduced  so  as  to  make  the  rate  of  wage  on  that 
work  correspond  to  the  reasonable  rate  of  wages  in  that  depart- 
ment, one  dollar  per  day. 

In  establishing  the  rate  of  wages  for  piece  work  over  so  large 
a  force  of  workmen,  the  principle  adopted  is  that  the  day's 
wage  is  to  be  a  reasonable  wage  for  10  hours  at  that  particular 
work  for  a  competent  workman,  not  an  expert;  and  by  experi- 
ence it  is  ascertained  what  a  faithful,  competent  workman  can 
do  on  a  given  kind  of  work,  as  to  quantity  in  a  given  time;  the 
piece  price  is  thereupon  based  upon  that  performance.  The 
competent,  faithful  workman  will  earn  the  reasonable  day's 
wage  at  it;  the  less  competent,  or  less  industrious  workman 
will  necessarily  make  less  than  the  reasonable  day's  wage;  on 
the  other  hand,  the  expert  and  more  industrious  workman  will 
earn  more  than  the  reasonable  day's  wage;  he  gets  the  just 
benefit  of  his  superior  energy  and  skill.  If  by  experience  in 
operation,  it  is  discovered  that  at  the  piece  price  fixed,  the  known 
less  competent  and  less  industrious  workmen  are  regularly 
making  an  unreasonable  day's  wage,  it  becomes  apparent  that 
the  piece  price  allotted  is  too  large.  It  is  not  the  less  apparent, 
although  at  the  same  time  the  most  competent  workmen  are 
not  making  a  very  excessive  wage,  because  it  is  well  known 
that  this  matter  is  watched  by  them,  so  that  they  themselves 
limit  their  own  output  upon  a  piece  of  work  excessively  priced, 
in  order  to  prevent  an  amount  of  wages  accruing  which  would 
attract  special  attention,  and  cause  a  reduction  of  the  piece 
price  to  a  proper  amount. 

As  another  illustration  of  the  propriety  and  reasonableness 
of  changes  in  what  is  called  piece  work,  the  following  instance 
may  be  given: 

In  1893  the  piece  price  for  remaking  an  elliptic  spring  was 
Si. 12^.  It  was  found  that  this  had  been  rated  too  high,  it 
being  observed  that  the  amount  habitually  earned  at  that  work 
at  that  price  made  an  excessive  day's  rate,  and  such  reductions 
were  made  in  the  piece  price  that  in  May,  1894  it  was  81  cents. 
The  striking  workman  on  this  job  did  not  apply  again  for  his 
job  until  after  his  place  had  been  filled  by  a  stranger.  This  new 
employe  was  first  given  this  work  at  day's  wages  of  S2.80,;  after 
working  six  days  he  asked  that  it  be  made  piece  work,  and  it 
was  given  to  him  at  80  cents  per  spring,  and  in  the  next  six 
days  he  made  29  springs,  so  that  by  day's  wages  for  the  first 
six  days  he  made  $16.80  and  for  the  next  six  days  at   piece 


17 

work  on  the  same  job,  he  made  $23.20,  or  at  the  rate  of  38  7-10 
cents  an  hour.  At  the  old  excessive  rate,  his  pay  would  have 
been  over  54  cents  an  hour. 

If  I  understand  the  record  correctly,  the  commission 
accepted  as  evidence  of  the  reduction  of  wages  at  our  shops, 
the  schedules  and  isolated  statements  made  by  Mr.  Carwardine 
in  his  pamphlet,  he  stating  that  he  had  compiled  them  from 
information  given  him  by  "two  or  three  gentlemen."  I  shall 
not  attempt  to  enumerate  all  the  errors  and  incorrect  state- 
ments in  respect  to  wages  in  his  book,  but  they  are  sufificient 
in  number  and  character  to  make  it  wholly  and  utterly  untrust- 
worthy; originating  as  it  does  it  could  not  be  otherwise.  Per- 
haps a  few  examples  will  be  sufificient  to  show  this. 

At  page  70,  he  says  that  the  average  cut  in  wages  was  33^ 
per  cent.  As  I  have  shown  by  the  tables  from  our  actual  pay- 
ments made,  the  average  reduction  of  wages  between  April, 
1893,  and  April,  1894,  for  journeymen  mechanics  was  22  8- 10 
per  cent,  and  the  average  reduction  for  all  other  shop  employes, 
excluding  all  the  superintendents,  foremen  and  shop  office 
force,  was  1 1 5^  per  cent.  The  average  reduction  for  all  shop 
employes,  excluding  all  the  superintendents,  foremen  and  shop 
office  force,  was,  as  I  have  already  said,  19  per  cent. 

At  page  85,  it  is  stated  that  just  before  the  strike,  black- 
smiths were  receiving  between  $1.50  and  JS2.50  per  day.  There 
v/ere  99  blacksmiths  on  the  roll  in  April,  1894,  and  the  average 
daily  wages  earned  and  paid  them  -in  that  month  was  $2.39. 
On  page  74,  it  is  stated  that  stripers  were  reduced  to  20  cents 
and  painters  to  19  cents  per  hour.  In  fact,  the  average  rate 
paid  stripers  and  other  ornamental  painters  during  the  first  four 
months  of  1894,  was  25  cents  an  hour  for  stripers  and  23  cents 
an  hour  for  ornamental  painters.  The  remarks  of  the  book  on 
reductions  in  the  street  car  department,  show  the  following 
misstatements. 

Alleged  Actual 

reductions,    reductions, 
Per  cent.  Per  cent. 

Body  builders,  inside  finishers  and  trimmers. .  33  20 

Cabinetmakers 5°  -9 

Blacksmiths 60  25 

Iron  machinists 85  21 

On  page  85  it  is  stated  that  the  female  employes  working 
in  the  carpet  department,  the  linen  room,  the  glass  embossing 
department  and  the  laundry,  were  all  paid,  before  May,  1893, 
at  the  rate  of  22>^  cents  per  hour  and  that  the  company 
reduced  this  to  lO  cents  per  hour. 

Our  records  show  that  the  average  wages  earned  and  paid 


i8 

female    employes    for    the    month    of    April,    1893,   were   as 
follows: 

Carpet,  upholstery  and  linen  department 14  cents  per  hour 

Glass  embossing  department 10      "        "      " 

Laundry gU     "        "      " 

For  the  month  of  April,  1894,  the  average  wages  earned  and 
paid  female  employes  were  as  follows: 

Carpet,  upholstery  and  linen  department 1234;  cents  per  hour 

Glass  embossing  department 11         "        "      " 

Laundry 113^     "        "      " 

The  book  says  of  workmen  in  the  wood  machine  shops,  that 
they  suffered  in  some  instances  a  cut  of  40  per  cent,  and  that 
in  no  case  has  it  fallen  below  33^3  per  cent.  The  actual  aver- 
age hourly  wages  paid  the  wood  machine  men  in  April,  1894,  is 
less  than  16  per  cent,  reduction  from  the  actual  average  hourly 
wages  paid  them  in  April,  1893.  At  page  90,  the  book  speaks 
of  a  fireman  laboring  428  hours  per  month,  or  about  16  hours 
per  day,  and  receiving  therefor  ^40  per  month  pay.  The  truth 
is  that  the  firemen  from  the  nature  of  their  occupation,  work 
12  hours  per  day  at  monthly  wages,  and  there  is  not,  and  has 
not  been  a  fireman  whose  monthly  wages  are  less  than  $50  per 
month.  The  firemen  sometimes  work  overtime,  but  if  so,  it  is 
by  arrangement  of  their  own,  to  divide  among  themselves  the 
work  of  an  absent  man,  and  the  wages  which  he  would  have 
received,  if  on  duty,  they  divide  among  themselves  by  arrange- 
ment between  themselves.  At  page  69  of  the  book,  Mr.  Car- 
wardine  states  that  he  knows  of  a  man  who  had  worked  as  a 
skilled  mechanic  for  10  hours  a  day  for  12  days,  and  earned 
$g.oy,  of  which  $g  was  paid  for  a  half  month's  rent,  the  check 
for  his  pay  being  dated  in  September,  1893.  T.  R.  Davis,  a 
painter  on  the  shop  rolls,  received  in  the  month  of  September, 
1893,  checks  for  his  earnings,  at  a  semi-monthly  pay  day, 
amounting  to  $9.07,  and  there  is  no  other  workman  on  our  rolls 
the  amount  of  whose  earnings  was  the  same,  paid  in  that 
month,  and  the  half  month's  rent  of  T.  R.  Davis  was  $g.  He 
must  therefore  be  the  man  described  in  the  book;  but  instead 
of  his  earnings  being  the  result  of  12  days'  labor  at  10  hours  a 
day,  as  stated  by  Mr.  Carwardine,  his  wages  were  the  result  of 
43%  hours  labor  at  20  73-100  cents  per  hour.  At  page  82,  Mr. 
Carwardine's  book  gives  the  average  of  earnings  in  1889  as 
;S2.oo  per  day,  and  the  average  of  earnings  in  1894,  at  91 
cents  per  day.  The  absurdity  of  this  statement  needs  no  com- 
ment. 

It  would  be  tedious  to  go  into  the  numerous  inaccuracies 
of  a   number  of  the  witnesses  who  ha\'c  testified  as  to  their 


ig 

earnings  in  the  Pullman  shops,  but  I  present  to  the  commission 
a  table  in  respect  to  the  witnesses  Heathcote,  Rhode,  Coombs 
and  Curtis,  for  the  period  beginning  May,  1893,  and  ending 
April,  1894,  that  is,  one  year,  up  to  the  strike,  showing  for  each 
month,  for  each  person,  the  number  of  hours  employed  and 
the  wages  earned  and  paid.  The  table  shows,  what  is  of  course 
true,  that  the  number  of  hours  of  employment  which  the  com- 
pany was  able  to  give  in  the  early  part  of  the  year  was  in  excess 
of  the  number  of  hours  of  employment  which  it  was  able  to  give 
in  the  latter  part  of  the  year;  and  it  shows  the  variance  in  the 
rate  of  wages  at  the  beginning  of  the  year  and  at  the  end  of 
the  year  for  each  of  these  persons. 

I  will  only  specify  for  examples  of  the  recklessness  of  many 
statements  made  to  the  commission,  that  the  witness  Heath- 
cote is  reported  as  testifying  that  he  had  no  employment  what- 
ever in  the  month  of  October,  1893.  He  had,  in  fact,  114  hours 
employment,  for  which  he  was  paid  $26.92.  The  witness 
Coombs  is  reported  as  testifying  that  for  the  month  of  Febru- 
ary he  had  only  $3.50  on  which  to  support  his  wife  and  two 
children  after  paying  his  rent.  His  rent  is  $15  and  the  water 
charge  is  71  cents.  It  will  be  seen  by  the  table  that  in  the 
month  of  February  he  had  nearly  full  employment,  240  hours, 
and  was  paid  $60.  He  is  reported  as  testifying  that  in  March, 
1894,  piece  work  prices  had  been  cut  so  that  he  could  not 
make  more  than  68  cents  a  day.  The  table  shows  that  in 
March,  1894,  he  worked  125  hours  and  was  paid  therefor  S30. 80, 
or  at  the  rate  of  $2.46  per  day,  nearly  four  times  the  amount 
stated  by  him. 

The  witness  Rhode  is  reported  as  testifying  as  to  his  wages 
substantially  as  follows:  "Then  the  cuts  came  and  work 
for  which  we  used  to  get  $9  we  got  $4.25.  We  cannot  make 
$1.25  a  day.  My  wages  in  April  were  $12  to  $15  each  two 
weeks." 

The  table  shows  that  for  the  four  months  ending  April  30, 
1894,  Rhode  was  almost  fully  employed,  and  in  that  time  he 
earned  and  was  paid  $218.30,  making  his  average  earnings  $2. 21 
per  day.  Instead  of  his  getting  as  he  says,  from  Si 2  to  $15  for 
each  two  weeks  for  his  wages  in  April,  he  got  for  the  whole 
month  of  April  $48.65,  more  than  double  the  sum  of  $12  each 
two  weeks,  mentioned  by  him. 

It  will  also  be  seen  from  the  same  table  that  the  impression 
easily  to  be  derived  from  the  fragmentary  statements  of  the 
witnesses  Heathcote  and  Rhode  as  to  their  earnings  during  a 
part  of  the  last  year,  is  wholly  incorrect.  The  former  earned 
and  was  paid  in  the  year  ending  y\pril  30,  1894,  S634.S6,  and 
the  latter  $642.19.     Miss  Curtis  earned  in  the  year  $346.82. 

It  may  be  added,  as  to  Miss  Curtis,  that  her  reported  testi- 


20 

mony  that  she  was  forced  to  pay  $4$  of  an  indebtedness  of  ^6o 
of  her  deceased  father  is  not  borne  out  by  our  records.  Her 
father  died  Sept.  9,  1893,  and  his  indebtedness  was  ;§I7.52  and 
not  g6o.  She  herself  after  her  father's  death,  incurred  an 
indebtedness  of  $32.14.  I  am  told  that  she  volunteered  to  pay 
her  father's  debt,  but  however  that  may  be,  our  records  show 
that  her  total  payments  since  her  father's  death  are  $32;  a  trifle 
less  than  her  own  indebtedness,  so  that  instead  of  paying  $45 
for  her  father's  debt,  she  has  paid  nothing,  and  has  not  quite 
paid  her  own  personal  debt. 

The  statements  made  to  the  commission  that  at  the  shops 
workmen  are  made  to  suffer  the  loss  of  labor  expended  in  the 
removal  and  replacing  of  defective  material  are  wholly  without 
foundation.  If  such  a  necessity  occurs  in  work  done  by  the 
day,  the  time  spent  in  such  work  is  merely  a  part  of  the  ordi- 
nary earnings  of  the  workmen  and  is  paid  for  as  such.  If  it 
occurs  in  a  job  paid  for  as  piece  work,  the  time  spent  in  remov- 
ing and  replacing  defective  material  is  paid  for  by  an  allowance 
for  the  time  so  spent,  in  addition  to  the  piece  work  price.  In 
every  such  case,  the  loss  of  the  value  of  the  workman's  labor 
falls  wholly  upon  the  company. 

There  has  been  a  good  deal  said  before  the  commission 
about  what  is  called  blacklisting.  If  by  that  term  is  meant 
receiving  from  other  employers  the  names,  or  lists  of  names 
of  workingmen  considered  by  them  undesirable,  or,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  sending  such  names  or  lists  to  any  other 
employers,  no  such  thing  is  done  by  the  Pullman  company. 
Of  course,  we  do  not  employ  undesirable  workmen  known  to 
us  to  be  undesirable  by  our  own  experience  of  them;  but  we 
do  not  receive  or  seek  information  in  such  matters  from  other 
employers  or  give  it  to  them. 

I  will  not  go  into  shop  complaints  at  this  time  unless  it  is 
desired  by  the  commission.  The  only  presentation  of  them 
ever  made  was  just  before  the  strike,  and  I  at  once  began  in 
person  the  investigation  of  them  on  the  spot,  in  conjunction 
with  the  general  manager  of  the  company.  We  were  prevented 
from  going  on  by  the  sudden  strike,  as  I  have  already  related. 
I  think  it  probable  that  as  a  result  of  that  investigation,  I 
should  have  found  some  cases  of  local  administration,  in  which 
the  action  of  local  subordinates  had  not  been  in  accordance 
with  the  policy  of  the  company,  and  I  would  have  applied  the 
necessary  correction.  It  is  not  the  policy  of  the  company  that 
men  shall  not  have  access  for  the  redress  of  grievances,  and  I 
have  never  refused  to  see  any  of  our  workmen. 

In  the  matter  of  rents,  comparisons  have  been  made  before 
the  commission  between  the  rent  of  houses  in  Pullman  and  the 
rent  of  houses  in  the  adjacent  towns  of  Kensington  and  Rose- 


21 

land,  it  being  made  to  appear  that  the  rents  at  Pullman  are 
slightly  higher  than  they  arc  in  those  adjacent  towns. 

As  to  this  it  is  to  be  said  that  the  Pullman  houses  are  built 
of  brick,  with  a  thorough  system  of  drainage,  with  modern  im- 
provements, such  as  gas,  water  closets,  faucets  and  sinks  in 
every  house;  and  that  these  houses  are  situated  on  broad,  paved 
and  shaded  streets,  with  sidewalks,  parks  and  lawns,  all  of 
which  are  cared  for  by  the  company,  the  whole  town  being 
kept  in  thorough  cleanliness.  The  dwellings  in  the  adjacent 
towns  with  which  they  are  compared  are  almost  wholly  frame 
structures  on  streets  which  have  sidewalks,  but  are  not  paved 
or  cleaned,  and  are  without  sewers;  and  the  houses  themselves 
are  without  water  closets  or  drainage  provision  therefor.  They 
are  no  doubt  to  be  had  at  a  lower  rent  than  dwellings  in  Pull- 
man because  they  could  not  compete  with  dwellings  m  Pullman 
except  at  a  lower  rent. 

I  may  call  the  attention  of  the  commission  to  the  fact  that 
at  the  time  of  the  strike  less  than  one-third  of  the  shop  em- 
ployes were  tenants  of  the  company. 

There  were  3,284  shop  employes  on  April  30,  1894,  and  of 
these  563  owned  their  own  houses  and  560  others  lived  outside 
of  the  town  of  Pullman;  1,026  were  tenants  in  the  town  and 
1,135  were  lodgers  in  the  town. 

Of  the  force  of  2,337  '^ow  employed  in  the  shops  461  own 
their  own  homes  and  871  others  live  outside  of  the  town  of 
Pullman;  466  are  tenants  in  the  town  and  539  are  lodgers  in 
the  town. 

These  facts  serve  also  to  make  a  sufficient  answer  to  the 
statement  made  to  the  commission  by  the  witness  Heathcote 
that  living  in  the  town  of  Pullman  has  now  or  at  any  time 
been  made  a  conditon  of  getting  employment.  This  was  not 
and  has  not  ever  been  the  case. 

The  chairman  of  the  commission  interrogated  Mr.  Carwar- 
dine  as  to  the  statement  made  by  him  in  his  book  that  the  com- 
pany paid  four  cents  a  thousand  gallons  for  water  and  retailed 
it  to  the  tenants  for  10  cents  per  thousand  gallons,  to  which 
Mr.  Carwardine  replied  that  the  statement  was  true  so  far  as 
he  could  find  out;  and  in  response  to  an  inquiry  whether  the 
cost  to  the  Pullman  company  was  not  now  six  cents  instead  of 
four,  Mr.  Carwardine  added  that  he  believed  the  city's  charge 
was  now  higher,  and  that  he  believes  Mr.  Pullman  is  not 
making  as  much  on  water  as  he  had  done,  but  that  no 
change  had  been  made  in  the  water  rates  since  the  readjust- 
ment with  the  city. 

The  witness  Heathcote  "from  hearsay,"  makes  tiie  profit 
on  water  supplied  the  tenants,  $32,000  a  year. 

The  facts  in  the  matter  are  as  follows:     Until  last  January, 


n 

the  company  took  its  water  from  the  works  of  the  village  of 
Hyde  Park,  paying  therefor  four  cents  per  thousand  gallons,  and 
distributing  it  through  the  mains  of  the  company.  Water 
meters  were  put  in  the  town  last  March,  and  it  has  since  been 
practicable  to  ascertain  accurately  the  amount  of  water  con- 
sumed by  tenants  in  Pullman,  and  this  consumption  has  been 
ascertained  to  be  for  the  period  which  has  since  elapsed,  at  the 
average  rate  of  22,211,842  gallons  per  month.  In  negotiating 
with  the  city  as  to  the  charge  the  city  should  make  under  the 
new  arrangement,  an  accurate  statement  was  made  of  the 
amount  paid  to  the  village  and  the  amount  charged  to  tenants 
by  the  company  for  water,  for  the  period  beginning  with 
August,  1889,  and  ending  with  July,  1893;  the  amount  charged 
the  tenants  is  almost  exactly  the  same  for  each  month  (the 
rate  being  unvarjnng  and  the  trifling  difference  arising  from 
the  varying  number  of  empty  houses),  which  shows  a  substanti- 
ally unvarying  consumption,  and  the  average  monthly  charge 
for  the  period  is  $1,006.04  per  month. 

At  four  cents  per  thousand  gallons,  the  cost  to  the  company 
for  the  22,211,842  gallons  per  month,  paid  to  the  village  of 
Hyde  Park,  was  $888. 47.  To  this  must  be  added  the  expense 
to  the  company  of  distributing  the  water,  which  is  arrived 
at  as  follows: 

The  statement  above  mentioned  shows  for  the  same  period 
beginning  with  August,  1889,  and  ending  with  July,  1893,  dur- 
ing which  period  the  water  was  supplied  under  the  arrange- 
ment with  the  village  of  Hyde  Park,  that  the  average  annual 
amount  paid  to  the  village  for  the  water  was  $21,847.1 1,  and 
that  the  average  annual  expense  to  the  company  in  maintaining 
and  operating  the  distributing  system  of  the  town  was  $2,132.60. 
This  shows  the  percentage  of  the  cost  of  maintenance  and 
operation  of  the  distributing  system  to  be  9  76-1 00  per  cent, 
on  the  cost  of  the  water.  This  percentage,  $86.71,  added  to 
the  amount  paid  the  village  for  the  water  supply  to  the  tenants 
per  month,  brings  the  cost  to  the  company  to  $975.18  per 
month,  which  is  less  than  the  average  amount,  $1,006.04,  charged 
to  tenants,  by  the  insignificant  sum  of  $30.86.  It  would  be 
difficult  to  have  a  more  exact  agreement,  and  the  facts  thus 
show  that  Mr.  Carwardine's  statement  that  the  company  was 
charging  the  tenants  2}^  times  the  cost  of  the  water  was  utterly 
reckless  and  untrue. 

Under  the  new  arrangement,  which  went  into  effect  with 
the  city  of  Chicago  in  January  last,  the  company  takes  from 
the  city  all  the  water  fof  its  works  and  the  town  of  Pullman, 
except  the  water  used  for  steam  boilers  and  mechanical  pur- 
poses (which  is  drawn  by  the  company  from  Calumet  Lake). 
The  rate  paid  for  the  monthly  supply  is  graduated   from    10 


23 

cents  per  thousand  gallons  down  to  6%  cents  per  thousand  gal- 
lons, for  all  over  5,000,000  gallons  per  month.  The  average 
rate  paid  by  the  company  is  about  68-10  cents  per  thousand 
gallons.  As  above  stated,  the  amount  consumed  by  the  tenants 
is  22,21 1,842  gallons  per  month.  At  the  rate  now  paid  the 
city,  the  average  cost  of  this  per  month  to  the  company  is 
$1,510.40,  to  which  must  be  added  the  average  monthly  cost  of 
distribution,  $86.71,  making  the  total  monthly  cost  to  the 
company  for  water  supplied  the  tenants,  $1,597.1 1,  and  as  above 
stated,  the  average  monthly  charge  to  tenants  being  $1,006.04, 
there  is  an  average  excess  of  cost  monthly  to  the  Pullman 
company  of  $591.07. 

The  house  water  rates  charged  in  the  town  of  Pullman  were 
fixed  by  the  civil  engineer  of  the  company  upon  the  completion 
of  the  houses  and  street  improvements,  in  exact  agreement  with 
the  scale  of  water  rates  prescribed  by  the  ordinance  of  the  vil- 
lage of  Hyde  Park,  of  which  the  town  of  Pullman  was  legally 
a  part,  and  they  have  never  been  changed. 

The  amount  of  gas  used  by  all  tenants  at  Pullman  is  not 
quite  1-5  of  the  output  of  the  works.  Only  228  house  tenants 
use  gas,  and  of  these  only  122  are  wage  workers,  out  of  over 
1,000  tenant  wage  workers  living  in  Pullman.  The  average 
revenue  to  the  company  from  each  wage  worker  using  gas,  in- 
cluding foremen,  is  approximately  $1.67  per  month,  so  the 
question  is  not  of  interest  to  many  people,  and  of  slight  conse- 
quence to  those  who  have  any  interest  in  it. 

The  company's  gas  works  were  e'rected  primarily  for  the 
use  of  the  works,  and  could  in  any  event  have  but  a  small 
clientage;  and  the  price  to  be  charged  for  gas  by  such  a  plant 
is  not  to  be  compared  with  the  price  at  which  a  company  hav- 
ing the  population  of  the  city  of  Chicago  for  a  clientage  can 
afford  to  furnish  it.  It  should  be  compared  with  the  gas  rates 
of  country  towns,  and  it  is  believed  that  upon  such  comparison 
the  Pullman  rate  will  be  found  to  be  less  than  their  rates.  It 
can  not  be  compared  with  Kensington  or  Roseland,  for  gas  is 
not  supplied  there. 

As  a  mention  has  been  made  of  the  library  at  Pullman,  it  is 
perhaps  worth  while  to  say  that  it  is  a  circulating  library,  con- 
sisting of  about  8,000  books,  a  gift  to  the  association.  A 
charge  of  25  cents  a  month  for  adults  and  one-third  that 
amount  for  young  persons,  is  made  for  membership,  not  for 
profit,  but  to  give  subscribers  a  sense  of  ownership.  The  fund 
thus  created  is  currently  exhausted  in  buying  the  regular  issues 
of  about  a  hundred  magazines  and  papers,  and  in  partly  repair- 
ing book  binding.     All  other  expenses  are  paid  by  the  company. 

It  is  quite  true  that  building  lots  are  not  offered  for  sale  in 
Pullman.     The  town  is  of  restricted  area,  and  designedly  so, 


H 

in  order  that  workmen  can,  if  they  wish,  live  outside  of  it,  and 
still  be  near  their  work,  and  the  buying  by  them  of  homes 
near  by  has  been  hoped  for  and  always  encouraged. 

The  purpose  of  the  town  was  to  give  such  employes  as 
chose  to  live  in  it,  dwellings  of  varying  sizes  and  accommoda- 
tions, well  built  and  kept  in  good  repair,  and  with  perfect  sani- 
tary arrangements;  with  streets  well  paved  and  kept  in  perfect 
order  as  to  repair  and  cleanliness;  and  proper  open  spaces, 
with  trees  and  grass;  with  the  other  requisites  of  civilization, 
a  church,  a  market,  and  an  arcade  for  shops,  schools  and  a 
library,  and  a  place  for  amusement;  all  to  be  so  arranged  and 
built  under  the  most  competent  architectural  and  engineering 
skill  as  to  be  not  only  comfortable  and  healthy,  but  to  have  as 
high  a  character  for  beauty  as  was  practicable.  This  could 
only  be  accomplished  under  a  single  control  of  plan  and  ex- 
penditure, which  would  have  failed  if  a  single  lot  had  been  sold. 
Such  a  sale  would  also  have  opened  the  way  to  dram  shops 
and  other  disreputable  places,  which  are  excluded  from  the 
town.  No  paternalism  has  ever  been  in  the  plan.  Reasonable 
rents  were  fixed  which  were  not  increased  in  times  of  increased 
wages,  nor  have  they  been  lowered  to  the  level  of  those  in  un- 
pleasant parts  of  Chicago,  or  to  the  level  of  those  charged  in 
the  adjacent  country  for  cheaply  built  houses  without  sewer- 
age, and  on  streets  unpaved  and  uncleaned. 

It  was  the  hope  and  belief  of  the  management  that  the 
character  of  the  buildings,  and  houses  and  streets  at  Pullman, 
and  the  order  in  which  they  are  kept,  would  raise  the  standard 
of  desire  of  working  people  for  such  surroundings;  and  that 
such  surroundings  would  improve  their  character  as  citizens, 
and  the  quality  of  their  work,  and  whatever  has  happened, 
there  is  gratification  at  so  much  of  a  result  as  was  shown  by 
the  ease  with  which  order  was  maintained  there  during  the 
recent  deplorable  disturbances  so  violent  in  many  other  places. 


THE  STRIKE  AT  PULLMAN. 


PUBLISHED   STATEMENTS    OF  THE   COMPANY 
MADE  DURING  ITS  CONTINUANCE. 


[Fro;n  the  Chicago  Herald,  June  26,  /5(?/.] 
PULLriAN   COnPANY'S   STATEHENT. 

In  view  of  the  proposed  attempt  of  the  American  Railway 
Union  to  interfere  with  public  travel  on  railway  lines  using 
Pullman  cars,  in  consequence  of  a  controversy  as  to  the  wages 
of  employes  of  the  manufacturing  department  of  the  company, 
the  Pullman  company  requests  the  publication  of  the  following 
statement  of  the  facts,  in  face  of  which  the  attempt  is  to  be  made. 

In  the  first  week  of  May  last,  there  were  employed  in  the 
car  manufacturing  department  at  Pullman,  111.,  about  3,100 
persons.  On  May  7th,  a  committee  of  the  workmen  had  an 
interview  by  arrangement  with  Mr.  Wickes,  vice-president,  at 
which  the  principal  subject  of  discussion  related  to  wages,  but 
minor  grievances  as  to  shop  administration  were  also  presented, 
and  it  was  agreed  that  another  meeting  should  be  held  on  the 
9th  of  May,  at  which  all  the  grievances  should  be  presented  in 
writing.  The  second  meeting  was  held.  As  to  the  complaints 
on  all  matters  except  wages,  it  was  arranged  that  a  formal  and 
thorough  investigation  should  be  made  by  Mr.  Wickes,  to  be 
begun  the  next  day,  and  full  redress  was  assured  to  the  com- 
mittee as  to  all  complaints  proved  to  be  well  founded. 

The  absolute  necessity  of  the  last  reduction  in  wages,  under 
the  existing  condition  of  the  business  of  car  manufacturing,  had 
been  explained  to  the  committee,  and  they  were  insisting  upon 
a  restoration  of  the  wage  scale  of  the  first  half  of  1893,  when 
Mr.  Pullman  entered  the  room  and  addressed  the  committee, 
speaking  in  substance  as  follows: 

"At  the  commencement  of  the  very  serious  depression  last 
year  we  were  employing  at  Pullman  5,816  men  and  paying  out 
in  wages  there  $305,000  a  month.  Negotiations  with  intending 
purchasers  of  railway  equipment  that  were  then  pending  for 
new  work  were  stopped  by  them,  orders  already  given  by  others 
were  canceled,  and  we  were  obliged  to  lay  off,  as  you  are  aware, 
a  large  number  of  men  in  every  department,  so   that  by   No- 


2U 

Vember  l,  1893,  there  were  only  about  2,000  men  in  all  depart- 
ments, or  about  one-third  of  the  normal  number.  1  realized 
the  necessity  for  the  most  strenuous  exertions  to  procure  work 
immediately,  without  which  there  would  be  great  embarrass- 
ment, not  only  to  the  employes  and  their  families  at  Pullman, 
but  also  to  those  living  in  the  immediate  vicinity,  including 
between  seven  hundred  and  eight  hundred  employes  who  had 
purchased  homes  and  to  whom  employment  was  actually 
necessary  to  enable  them  to  complete  their  payments. 

"I  canvassed  the  matter  thoroughly  with  the  manager  of  the 
works  and  instructed  him  to  cause  the  men  to  be  assured  that 
the  company  would  do  everything  in  its  power  to  meet  the 
competition  which  was  sure  to  occur  because  of  the  great  num- 
ber of  large  car  manufacturers  that  were  in  the  same  condition, 
and  that  were  exceedingly  anxious  to  keep  their  men  employed. 
I  knew  that  if  there  was  any  work  to  be  let,  bids  for  it  would 
be  made  upon  a  much  lower  basis  than  ever  before. 

(  Note  :  The  selling^  prices  of  passenger,  baggage,  box,  refrigerator  and 
street  cars  in  the  last  two  years  have  fallen  by  percentages,  varying  in  the 
separate  classes  from  17  to  28,  the  average  reduction  taking  the  five  classes 
together,  being  24  per  cent.) 

"The  result  of  this  discussion  was  a  revision  in  piece-work 
prices,  which,  in  the  absence  of  any  information  to  the  contrary 
I  supposed  to  be  acceptable  to  the  men  under  the  circumstances. 
Under  these  conditions,  and  with  lower  prices  upon  all 
materials,  I  personally  undertook  the  work  of  the  lettings  of 
cars,  and  by  making  lower  bids  than  other  manufacturers,  I 
secured  work  enough  to  gradually  increase  our  force  from  2,000 
up  to  about  4,200,  the  number  employed,  according  to  the 
April  pay-rolls,  in  all  capacities  at  Pullman. 

Says   Company   Bears   Its   Share. 

"This  result  has  not  been  accomplished  merely  by  reduction 
in  wages,  but  the  Company  has  borne  its  full  share  by  eliminating 
from  its  estimates  the  use  of  capital  and  machinery,  and  in 
many  cases  going  even  below  that  and  taking  work  at  con- 
siderable loss,  notably  the  fifty-five  Long  Island  cars,  which 
was  the  first  large  order  of  passenger  cars  let  since  the  great 
depression  and  which  was  sought  for  by  practically  all  the 
leading  car-builders  in  the  country.  My  anxiety  to  secure  that 
order  so  as  to  put  as  many  men  at  work  as  possible,  was  such 
that  I  put  in  a  bid  at  more  than  $300  per  car  less  than  the  actual 
cost  to  the  company.  The  three  hundred  stock  cars  built  for 
the  Northwestern  Road  and  the  two  hundred  and  fifty  refrig- 
erator cars  now  under  construction  for  the  same  company,  will 
result  in  a  loss  of   at    least  $12    per  car,  and  the  twenty-five 


"^1 

cars  just  built  for  the  Lake  Street  Elevated  Road  show  a  loss 
of  ^79  per  car.  I  mention  these  particulars  so  that  you 
may  understand  what  the  company  has  done  for  the  mutual 
interest  and  to  secure  for  the  people  at  Pullman  and  vicinity 
the  benefit  of  the  disbursement  of  the  large  sums  of  money  in- 
volved in  these  and  similar  contracts,  which  can  be  kept  up 
only  by  the  procurement  of  new  orders  for  cars,  for,  as  you 
know,  about  three-fourths  of  the  men  must  depend  upon  con- 
tract work  for  employment.  I  can  only  assure  you  that  if  this 
company  now  restores  the  wages  of  the  first  half  of  1893,  as 
you  have  asked,  it  would  be  a  most  unfortunate  thing  for  the 
men,  because  there  is  less  than  sixty  days  of  contract  work  in 
sight  in  the  shops  under  all  orders  and  there  is  absolutely  no  pos- 
sibility, in  the  present  condition  of  affairs  throughout  the 
country,  of  getting  any  more  orders  for  work  at  prices  measured 
by  the  wages  of  May,  1893.  Under  such  a  scale  the  works 
would  necessarily  close  down  and  the  great  majority  of  the 
employes  be  put  in  idleness,  a  contingency  I  am  using  my  best 
efforts  to  avoid. 

"To  further  benefit  the  people  of  Pullman  and  vicinity,  we 
concentrated  all  the  work  that  we  could  command  at  that 
point,  by  closing  our  Detroit  shops  entirely,  and  laying  off  a 
large  number  of  men  at  our  other  repair  shops,  and  gave  to 
Pullman  the  repair  of  all  cars  that  could  be  taken  care  of  there. 

"Also,  for  the  further  benefit  of  our  people  at  Pullman,  we 
have  carried  on  a  large  system  of  internal  improvements,  hav- 
ing expended  nearly  $160,000  since  August  last  in  work,  which, 
under  normal  conditions,  would  have  been  spread  over  one  or 
two  years.  The  policy  would  be  to  continue  this  class  of  work 
to  as  great  an  extent  as  possible,  provided,  of  course,  the  Pull- 
man men  show  a  proper  appreciation  of  the  situation  by  doing 
whatever  they  can  to  help  themselves  to  tide  over  the  hard 
times  which  are  so  seriously  felt  in  every  part  of  the  country. 

"There  has  been  some  complaint  made  about  rents.  As  to 
this,  I  would  say  that  the  return  to  this  company  on  the  capi- 
tal invested  in  the  Pullman  tenements  for  the  last  year  and  the 
year  before  was  3jW  per  cent.  There  are  hundreds  of  tene- 
ments in  Pullman  renting  for  from  $6  to  $9  per  month,  and  the 
tenants  are  relieved  from  the  usual  expenses  of  exterior  clean- 
ing and  the  removal  of  garbage,  which  is  done  by  the  company. 
The  average  amount  collected  from  employes  for  gas  con- 
sumed is  about  $2  a  month.  To  ascertain  the  exact  amount  of 
water  used  by  tenants,  separate  from  the  amount  consumed  by 
the  works,  we  have  recently  put  in  meters,  by  which  we  find 
that  the  water  consumed  by  the  tenants,  if  paid  for  at  the  rate 
of  4  cents  per  1,000  gallons,  in  accordance  with  our  original 
contract  with  the  village  of  Hyde  Park,  would  amount  to  about 


28 

Si.OOO  a  month,  almost  exactly  the  rate  which  we  have  charged 
the  tenants,  this  Company  assuming  the  expense  of  pumping. 
At  the  increased  rate  the  city  is  now  charging  us  for  water,  we 
are  paying  about  $500  a  month  in  excess  of  the  amount  charged 
to  the  tenants.  The  present  pay  rolls  at  Pullman  amount  to 
about  $7,000  a  day." 

On  the  question  of  rents,  while,  as  stated  above,  they  make 
a  manifestly  inadequate  return  upon  the  investment,  so  that  it 
is  clear  they  are  not,  in  fact,  at  an  arbitrarily  high  figure,  it  may 
be  added  that  it  would  not  be  possible  in  a  business  sense  so  to 
deal  with  them.  The  renting  of  the  dwellings  and  the  employ- 
ment of  workmen  at  Pullman  are  in  no  way  tied  together.  The 
dwellings  and  apartments  are  offered  for  rent  in  competition 
with  those  of  the  immediately  adjacent  towns  of  Kensington, 
Roseland  and  Gano.  They  are  let  alike  to  Pullman  employes 
and  to  very  many  others  in  no  way  connected  with  the  com- 
pany, and,  on  the  other  hand,  many  Pullman  employes  rent  or 
own  their  homes  in  those  adjacent  towns.  The  average  rental 
at  Pullman  is  at  the  rate  of  ^3  per  room  per  month.  There  are 
1,200  tenements  of  varying  numbers  of  rooms,  the  average 
monthly  rental  of  which  is  $10  ;  of  these  there  are  600,  the 
average  monthly  rental  of  which  is  $8.  In  very  many  cases, 
men  with  families  pay  a  rent  seemingly  large  for  a  workman, 
but  which  is  in  fact  reduced  in  part,  and  often  wholly  repaid, 
by  the  sub-rents  paid  by  single  men  as  lodgers. 

Why  the  Shops  Shut  Down. 

On  May  loth,  the  day  after  the  second  conference  above 
mentioned,  work  went  on  at  Pullman  as  usual,  and  the  only 
incident  of  note  was  -the  beginning  by  Mr.  Wickes,  assisted  by 
Mr.  Brown,  the  general  manager  of  the  company,  of  the  prom- 
ised formal  investigation  at  Pullman  of  the  shop  complaints. 
A  large  meeting  of  employes  had  been  held  the  night  before  at 
Kensington,  which,  as  was  understood  by  the  company,  ac- 
cepted the  necessity  of  the  situation  preventing  an  increase  of 
wages;  but  at  a  meeting  of  the  local  committee  held  during  the 
night  of  May  loth,  a  strike  was  decided  upon,  and  accordingly 
the  next  day  about  2,500  of  the  employes  quit  their  work, 
leaving  about  600  at  work,  of  whom  very  few  were  skilled 
workmen.  As  it  was  found  impracticable  to  keep  the  shops  in 
operation  with  a  force  thus  diminished  and  disorganized,  the 
next  day  those  remaining  were  necessarily  laid  off,  and  no 
work  has  since  been  done  in  the  shops. 

The  pay-rolls  at  the  time  amounted  to  about  ^7,000  a  day, 
and  were  reduced  $5,500  by  the  strike,  so  that  during  the 
period  of  a  little  more  than  six  weeks  which  has  elapsed,  the 


29 

employes  who  quit  their  work  have  deprived  themselves  and 
their  comrades  of  earnings  of  more  than  ;^200,000. 

It  is  an  element  of  the  whole  situation  worthy  of  note,  that 
at  the  beginning  of  the  strike  the  Pullman  Savings  Bank  had 
on  deposit  in  its  savings  department  $488,000,  of  which  about 
nine-tenths  belonged  to  employes  at  Pullman,  and  that  this 
amount  has  since  been  reduced  by  the  sum  of  $32,000. 

While  deploring  the  possibility  of  annoyance  to  the  public 
by  the  threats  of  irresponsible  organizations  to  interrupt  the 
orderly  ministration  to  the  comfort  of  travelers  on  railway 
lines  aggregating  125,000  miles  in  length,  the  Pullman  com- 
pany can  do  no  more  than  explain  its  situation  to  the  public. 
It  has  two  separate  branches  of  business,  essentially  distinct 
from  each  other.  One  is  to  provide  sleeping  cars,  which  are 
delivered  by  it  under  contract  to  the  various  railway  companies, 
to  be  run  by  them  on  their  lines  as  a  part  of  their  trains  for  the 
carriage  of  their  passengers,  over  the  movements  of  which  this 
company  has  no  control.  Contract  arrangements  provide  for 
the  making  of  all  repairs  to  such  cars  by  the  railway  companies 
using  them — as  to  certain  repairs  absolutely,  and  as  to  all 
others  upon  the  request  of  the  Pullman  company,  which  ordi- 
narily finds  it  most  convenient  to  use  its  own  manufacturing 
facilities  to  make  such  repairs.  The  other,  and  a  distinct 
branch  of  the  business  of  the  Pullman  company,  is  the  manu- 
facture of  sleeping  cars  for  the  above-mentioned  use  of  railway 
companies,  and  the  manufacture  for  sale  to  railway  companies 
of  freight  cars  and  ordinary  passenger  cars,  and  of  street  cars, 
and  this  business  is  almost  at  a  standstill  throughout  the  United 
States. 

The  business  of  manufacturing  cars  for  sale  gives  employ- 
ment to  about  70  per  cent,  of  the  shop  employes.  The  manu- 
facture of  sleeping  cars  for  use  by  railway  companies  under 
contract,  and  which,  under  normal  conditions,  gives  employment 
to  about  15  per  cent,  of  the  shop  employes,  cannot  be  resumed 
by  the  company  to  an  important  extent  for  a  very  long  time, 
for  out  of  the  provision  made  for  the  abnormal  travel  last  year 
the  company  now  has  about  400  sleeping  cars  in  store  ready 
for  use,  but  for  which  there  is  no  need  in  the  existing  conditions 
of  public  travel. 

It  is  now  threatened  by  the  American  Railway  Union  offi- 
cials that  railway  companies  using  Pullman  sleeping  cars  shall 
be  compelled  to  deprive  their  passengers  of  sleeping-car 
accommodations,  unless  the  Pullman  company  will  agree  to 
submit  to  arbitration  the  question  as  to  whether  or  not  it  shall 
open  its  manufacturing  shops  at  Pullman  and  operate  them 
under  a  scale  of  wages  which  would  cause  a  daily  loss  to  it  of 
one-fourth  the  wages  paid. 


30 
WILL  FIQHT  THE  PULLMAN  BOYCOTT. 


General  Managers  of  all  Chicago  Terminal  Lines  Adopt  Resolutions. 


At  a  fully  represented  meeting  of  the  General  Managers' 
Association,  held  yesterday  afternoon,  the  following  resolutions 
were  unanimously  adopted  : 

Whereas,  We  learn  through  the  public  press  that  the  American  Rail- 
way Union  will  declare  a  boycott  on  all  Pullman  palace  cars;  and 

Whereas,  Said  boycott  is  in  relation  to  matters  over  which  we  have  no 
control,  and  in  which  we  have  no  interest  whatever;  and 

Whereas,  It  is  stated  that  the  object  and  intent  of  the  said  boycott  is  to 
discommode  the  traveling  public  and  embarrass  the  railroads,  in  the  belief 
that  the  public  and  railroads  affected  will  influence  the  settlement  of  the 
question  as  the  American  Railway  Union  desires;  and 

Whereas,  It  is  necessary  that  these  companies  determine  for  them- 
selves what  cars  they  shall  or  shall  not  handle  ;  and 

Whereas,  It  is  important  that  the  traveling  public  should  understand 
the  position  of  the  railroads  in  this  matter  ;  therefore,  be  it 

Resolved,  i.  That  it  is  the  sense  of  this  meeting  that  the  said  proposed 
boycott,  being  confessedly  not  in  the  interest  of  any  employes  of  said  rail- 
road companies,  or  on  account  of  any  grievance  between  said  railroad  com- 
panies and  said  employes,  is  unjustifiable  and  unwarranted. 

2.  That  the  employes  of  said  railroad  companies  cannot,  nor  can  any 
of  them,  with  propriety,  embarrass  said  companies  or  discommode  the 
traveling  public  because  of  their  sympathy  with  the  supposed  wrongs  of 
employes  engaged  in  a  wholly  different  class  of  labor. 

3.  That  we  hereby  declare  it  to  be  the  lawful  right  and  duty  of  the 
said  railway  companies  to  protest  against  said  proposed  boycott ;  to  resist 
the  same  in  the  interest  of  their  existing  contracts  and  for  the  benefit  of  the 
traveling  public,  and  that  we  will  act  unitedly  to  that  end. 

Every  railway  system  in  Chicago  was  represented  at  the 
meeting  which  adopted  the  foregoing  resolutions  without  a 
dissenting  vote;  not  only  the  general  managers,  but  presidents, 
vice-presidents  and  other  general  officers  attested  the  import- 
ance of  the  occasion  by  their  presence. 

Sitting  in  the  assembly,  by  direct  invitation,  was  Thomas  H. 
Wickes,  the  second  vice-presidept  of  the  Pullman  company, 
who  was  throughout  an  interested  listener.  Mr.  Wickes  said 
afterwards  that  he  viewed  the  result  obtained  by  the  meeting 
as  affording  the  only  possible  solution  of  the  difficulty,  which 
threatened  not  the  Pullman  company  so  much  as  the  right  of 
the  railroads  to  govern  themselves. 


31 

{^From  the  New  York  Sun,  Jnh'  j,  i8q4.\ 
Mr.  PULLMAN  TALKS  FREELY. 


The  Efforts  He  Made  To  Keep  The  Shops  Running. 


Orders  Taken  at  a  Loss  in  the  Interest  of  His  Workmen. — 
The  Present  Situation  Entirely  Outside  of  His  Con- 
trol.—  His  Relationship  to  the   Workmen  at 
Pullman  Described  in  a  Letter  Written 
TO  A  Friend, 

A  Sim  reporter  visited  Mr.  George  M.  Pullman  at  his  Long 
Branch  cottage  yesterday.  When  he  was  seen  by  the  same 
reporter  on  Tuesday  evening  Mr.  Pullman  was  not  disposed  to 
talk  at  all  for  publication,  but  yesterday  he  talked  freely  about 
the  strike.  Only  on  one  point  did  he  decline  to  speak.  That 
was  the  social  and  political  meaning  of  such  a  situation  as  has 
been  developed  in  so  short  a  time  in  Chicago. 

"Of  course,"  said  Mr.  Pullman,  "this  frightful  state  of 
affairs  is  portentous  with  meaning  to  the  social  and  political 
philosopher,  and  must  come  to  be  considered  from  that  point 
of  view  by  all,  sooner  or  later.  But  I  have  been  so  engrossed 
with  the  details  of  the  affair  that  I  have  not  had  time  to  phil- 
osophize about  it  yet.  The  Sun  must  excuse  me  on  that  point. 
Those  who  are  watching  this  with  no  personal  interest,  or  with 
much  less  personal  interest  than  I  have  in  it,  are  better  able  to 
discuss  what  the  big  meaning  of  it  is." 

But  Mr.  Pullman  has,  at  least  in  one  instance,  given  a  calm 
and  well-considered  opinion  on  some  of  the  questions  involved 
in  this  controversy.  During  the  course  of  his  talk  with  the 
writer  he  referred  to  a  letter  he  wrote  to  a  prominent  resident 
of  Chicago  in  answer  to  a  letter  concerning  the  strike  at  Pull- 
man. The  reporter  saw  a  copy  of  Mr.  Pullman's  reply,  and 
persuaded  Mr.  Pullman  to  permit  it  to  be  published,  as  in  it  he 
plainly  gives  his  views  of  the  situation  as  it  is  affected  by  his 
relation  to  Pullman  workmen  as  employer  and  landlord.  He 
also  logically  discussed  in  it  some  other  important  matters 
involved  which  were  referred  to  by  his  correspondent.  The 
Pullman  strike  began  on  May  nth,  and  Mr.  Pullman's  letter 
was  written  after  the  strike  had  been  on  six  weeks.  Mr,  Pull- 
man declined  permission  to  have  the  name  of  the  correspond- 
ent  published,   as  he  had  not   obtained   the   correspondent's 


consent,  but  the  name,  it  can  be  stated,  is  well  known  through- 
out the  United  States.     The  reply  was  as  follows: 

"  Pullman's  Palace  Car  Company,     ) 

'Office  of  the  President,  [ 

Chicago,  June  22,  1894.  ) 

"  My  Dear :     Your  note  of  the  20th  instant  reaches  me  only  this 

morning'.  I  have  read  it  with  interest,  and  ot  course  concur  with  you  in 
wishing  a  termination  of  the  present  condition  of  affairs  at  Pullman,  but  I 
must  frankly  say  to  you  that  the  solution  suggested  by  you  is  not  practicable. 

"  You  are  perhaps  not  aware  that  the  renting  of  houses  at  Pullman  has 
no  relation  to  the  work  in  the  shops.  Employes  may,  and  very  many  do, 
own  or  rent  their  houses  outside  of  the  town;  and  the  buildings  and  busi- 
ness places  in  the  town  are  rented  to  employes  or  to  others,  in  competition 
w'th  neighboring  property.  In  short,  the  renting  business  of  the  Pullman 
company  is  governed  by  the  same  conditions  which  govern  you,  for 
instance,  or  any  other  large  owner  of  real  estate,  except  that  the  company 
itself  does  directly  some  things  which  in  Chicago  are  assumed  by  the  city. 
If,  therefore,  it  is  not  admitted  that  the  rents  of  any  landlord  are  to  be  fixed 
by  arbitration,  and  that  those  of  the  adjoining  towns  of  Kensington  and 
Roseland  should  also  be  so  fixed,  it  can  hardly  be  asked  that  the  Pullman 
company  alone  should  abandon  the  ordinary  rules  which  govern  persons 
in  that  relation. 

"  I  notice  that  you  lay  much  stress  on  the  fact  that  there  has  been  no 
violence  or  destruction  of  property  at  Pullman.  I  should  be  sorry  to  think 
that  such  things  could  in  any  event  be  the  outcome  of  all  that  has  been 
done  there  since  the  establishment  of  the  town,  thirteen  years  ago,  the  wel- 
fare of  which  in  every  aspect  has  always  been,  as  I  think  you  know,  the 
most  constant  object  of  my  solicitude  as  president  of  this  company.  If  the 
fact  you  note  is  really  to  be  deemed  remarkable,  may  not,  perhaps,  some 
credit  be  given  to  the  administration  of  the  company,  which  prohibits 
drinking  saloons,  and  provides  various  sources  of  elevation  of  character? 

"  I  regret  very  much  that  the  employes  of  the  company  have  permitted 
themselves,  under  the  instigation  of  persons  almost  unknown  to  them,  and 
wholly  ignoring  essential  facts  in  their  desire  to  make  their  places  of  seem- 
ing importance,  to  be  subjected  to  the  distress  and  loss  of  wages  (now 
amounting  to  about  a  quarter  of  a  million  dollars)  which  have  occurred; 
and  I  am  especially  sorry  for  those,  who,  themselves  willing  to  continue  in 
their  useful  work,  are  compelled  to  be  idle  by  the  inaction  of  their  com- 
rades. 

"  I  am  afraid  that  I  cannot  encourage  you  to  look  for  any  solution 
except  as  a  result  of  those  who  wish  to  be  employed  at  the  Pullman  shops 
realizing  and  acting  upon  the  rule  of  business  that  the  aggregate  cost  of  a 
piece  of  work  must  not  exceed  its  selling  price.  A  continuous  violation  of 
that  rule  must  wreck  the  Pullman  shops,  or  any  other  shop,  and  perma- 
nently stop  all  work  of  its  employes.  This  company  cannot  control  the 
selling  price  of  cars,  and  it  cannot  pay  more  for  making  them  than  it  can 
contract  to  sell  them  for.  It  is  impossible  to  submit  to  arbitration  whether 
or  not  it  shall  do  so,  and  that  it  shall  do  so  is  the  only  demand  made  upon 
the  company. 

"  This  consideration  must  govern  the  opening  of  the  shops  for  the 
manufacturing  of  cars  for  sale  to  other  companies,  employing  normally 
about  four-fifths  of  the  employes.     Believe  me,  very  sincerely  yours, 

"George  M.  Pullman. 

"  P.  S.— I  enclose  the  Tribunes  report  of  the  facts  I  gave  to  the  em- 
ployes two  days  before  they  quit  work,  and  which  you  may  not  have  seen." 
[This  report  was  reprinted  in  the  Sun  on  July  3d.] 


The  reporter  then  said  to  Mr.  Pullman  : 

"This  morning's  dispatches  report  that  Mr.  Studebaker  will  be  present 
at  the  proposed  compromise  conference,  representing  the  Pullman  com- 
pany; is  that  so?  " 

"  Mr.  Studebaker's  action  in  this  matter  is  entirely  unauthorized  by  any 
one  connected  with  the  Pullman  company,"  replied  Mr.  Pullman.  "The 
Pullman  company  has  not  been  asked  by  any  railway  manager  or  other 
person  to  participate  in  any  conference." 

"Would  the  Pullman  company  send  a  representative  to  such  a 
conference?" 

To  this  question  Mr.  Pullman  replied  : 

"The  original  cause  of  the  boycott  bears  no  relation  to  the  principles 
involved  in  the  state  of  affairs  as  they  have  now  been  developed.  The 
questions  to  be  considered  by  any  conference  are  now  entirely  under  the 
control  of  the  railway  companies,  and  could  not  be  influenced  by  the  action 
of  the  Pullman  company  in  any  way." 

The  reporter  next  asked  :  "  Has  there  been  any  suggestion  from  any 
of  the  railway  companies  concerning  a  suspension  or  modification  of  their 
contracts  with  your  company  pending  the  settlement  of  the  strike?" 

"  No  request  or  suggestion  of  such  a  nature  has  been  received  by  us," 
said  Mr.  Pullman.  "Our  contracts  are  not  the  question  involved  now, 
either,  for  the  American  Railway  Union  not  only  seeks  to  dictate  to  the  rail- 
way systems  of  this  country  what  cars  they  shall  use,  or  rather  what  kind  of 
cars  they  shall  not  use,  but  they  have  even  gone  beyond  that,  and  stopped 
the  operations  of  railway  companies  which  have  no  contract  with  the  Pull- 
man company,  and  no  business  relations  with  us  of  any  nature." 

"  It  has  been  repeatedly  charged  that  you  refused  to  receive  a  com- 
mittee of  Pullman  workmen  at  their  request." 

"That  is  not  true,"  said  Mr.  Pullman.  "These  are  the  facts:  At  the 
time  of  the  American  Railway  Union  convention  we  were  asked  to  receive 
a  joint  committee  of  members  of  the  union  and  of  our  workmen.  We 
declined  to  receive  any  committee  from  the  American  Railway  Union,  but 
said  we  would,  of  course,  receive  a  committee  composed  of  our  workmen. 
We  did,  in  fact,  then  receive  a  committee  of  our  workmen,  and  the  manner 
of  their  resuming  relations  with  us  was  discussed  and  fully  understood." 

"  What  was  the  result  of  your  refusal  to  arbitrate  with  a  committee 
from  the  American  Railway  Union?" 

"  We  were  notified  that  unless  we  consented  to  arbitrate  with  the 
American  Railway  Union  they  would  boycott  railways  using  our  cars." 

"  What  had  the  American  Railway  Union  to  arbitrate  with  the 
Pullman  company? " 

Mr.  Pullman  replied  laconically  :  "  Nothing  that  I  am  aware  of." 

Concerning  the  events  preceding  the  strike  Mr.  Pullman  said :  "  There 
were  two  causes  which  combined  to  suddenly  and  greatly  reduce  the 
amount  of  work  at  the  Pullman  shops.  A  great  many  railways  placed 
extra  orders  with  us  for  rolling  stock  to  accommodate  their  World's  Fair 
business,  and  consequently,  with  those  orders  filled,  we  could  not  expect 
more  orders  from  those  roads  soon,  as  they  were  well  stocked,  and  then 
came  the  financial  panic,  and  I  realized  that  even  those  roads  which  had 
not  recently  contracted  for  new  rolling  stock,  and  in  the  natural  order  of 
events  would  soon  place  new  orders,  would  not  under  the  existing  financial 
conditions  do  so.  They  simply  could  not  pay  for  new  stock.  I  knew  that 
here  and  there  throughout  the  United  States  there  would  be  roads  which 
would  place  small  orders  for  absolutely  necessary  stock,  and  that  those 
orders,  small  in  each  case,  but  aggregating  a  considerable  amount,  might,  if 
we  could  secure  them,  enable  us  to  keep  our  shops  running.  I  said  to  our 
managers  :  '  We  will  make  a  strong  effort  to  secure  this  scattered  work. 
Our  bids  will  be  based  on  the  lowest  possible  estimates,  eliminating  the 


6^ 

question  of  profit  and  the  interest  on  investment,  and  if  the  workmen  will 
contribute  some  help  in  the  way  of  accepting  some  reduction  of  wages 
while  the  conditions  remain  in  the  state  described,  we  can  hope  to  keep 
running.' 

"  On  one  order  for  250  refrigerator  cars  we  had  prepared  a  bid  which 
was  figured  down  to  actual  cost,  and  then  I  told  the  manager  before  send- 
ing in  the  bid  to  cut  off  $10  on  the  price  of  each  car,  as  I. was  willing  to 
contribute  $2,500  to  get  the  work  and  keep  the  shops  running.  As  the 
manager  was  leaving  the  room  I  said:  'Make  that  cut  $15  on  each  car.' 
Then  we  secured  the  order,  and  were  only  $1  below  the  next  highest 
bidder.  We  had  to  meet  competition  at  points  which  had  a  great  advan- 
tage over  us  in  the  matter  of  the  cost  of  transportation  to  the  point  where 
the  cars  were  to  be  delivered.  For  instance,  on  the  order  for  fifty-five  cars 
for  the  Long  Island  Railroad  it  cost  us  $go  a  car  to  deliver  them,  and  our 
bid  was  $24  lower  than  the  next  highest  bidder,  who  could  deliver  at  much 
less  cost.  1  mention  these  things  to  show  the  effort  the  company  was 
making  to  secure  work,  and  it  was  just  about  the  time  these  orders  were 
completed,  and  we  were  eagerly  searching  the  whole  country  for  more 
work,  even  under  such  conditions,  that  the  strike  occurred." 


[  From  tJie  New  1  'ork  Tribune,  Jiihl  14,  iSg^.^ 
MR.    PULLMAN'S   STATEflENT. 


He  Explains  the  Position   of  His   Company. 


There    Was    Nothing   to   Arbitrate — Demands    Made   by 

THE   Workmen   Were  Unreasonable — Charges 

Against  the  Company  Answered. 

There  is  hardly  anything  new  to  be  said  as  to  the  position 
of  the  Pullman  company,  but  I  have  so  many  indications  of 
the  facility  with  which  my  expressions  and  those  authorized  by 
me  have  become  distorted,  and  thus  misleading  to  the  public, 
and  of  an  entire  forgetting  of  my  earnest  efforts  to  prevent  the 
strike,  that  perhaps  it  is  well  that  I  should  again  make  a  public 
assurance  that  the  deplorable  events  of  the  last  few  weeks  have 
not  been  caused  by  the  Pullman  company  taking  an  obstinate 
stand  in  a  debatable  matter  and  refusing  to  listen  to  reason. 
The  leaders  of  disorder  have  not  hesitated  to  harass  the  public 
by  all  means  in  their  power,  because,  as  they  say,  the  Pullman 
company  would  not  submit  to  arbitration,  and  now  that  dis- 
order seems  to  be  quelled,  they  are  reinforced  in  their  clamor 
for  arbitration  by  some  prominent  newspapers,  but,  so  far  as  I 
know,  by  very  few,  if  any,  business  men  in  the  country. 


35 

Why  Wages  Were  Reduced. 

What  is  the  demand  concealed  under  the  innocently  sound- 
ing word  arbitration?  A  little  more  than  a  year  ago  the  car 
shops  at  Pullman  were  in  a  most  prosperous  condition,  work 
was  plenty,  wages  were  high  and  the  condition  of  the  employes 
was  indicated  by  the  fact,  that  the  local  savings  bank  had  of 
savings  deposits  nearly  $700,000,  of  which  nearly  all  was  the 
property  of  the  employes.  Our  pay  rolls  for  that  year  show  an 
average  earning  of  over  $600  per  annum  for  every  person — man, 
woman  or  youth — on  the  roll.  Then  came  the  great  panic  and 
depression  of  last  summer.  Many  customers  stopped  negotia- 
tions and  canceled  orders,  and  our  working  force  had  to  be 
diminished  from  nearly  6,000  to  about  2,000  in  November,  1893. 
The  great  business  depression  existing  throughout  the  country 
had  naturally  resulted  in  a  wage  depression,  and  the  only  hope 
of  getting  orders  was  by  bidding  for  work  at  prices  as  low  as, 
or  lower  than  could  be  made  by  other  shops,  and  this,  of  course, 
necessitated  a  reduction  in  the  wages  of  the  employes  at  Pull- 
man. This  was  arranged  satisfactorily,  as  I  supposed,  and  in 
close  competitions,  disregarding  all  account  of  capital  and 
machinery,  I  secured  enough  work  to  gradually  increase  our 
force  to  4,200,  the  number  on  the  rolls  last  April.  Nine  weeks 
ago  the  car  shops  at  Pullman  were  working  with  car-building 
contracts  on  hand  enough  to  keep  them  going  for  about  sixty 
days,  and  with  all  business  forecasts' leading  to  the  belief  that 
no  considerable  new  orders  could  soon  be  had.  The  most  im- 
portant of  the  work  in  hand  had  been  taken  by  me  in  competi- 
tion at  prices  which  were  less  than  the  actual  cost  to  the  com- 
pany of  delivering  the  cars,  without  any  reckoning  for  the  use 
of  capital  and  plant.  This  work  was  taken  to  keep  the  large 
force  of  men  employed  and  to  postpone,  and  with  the  hope  of 
avoiding,  the  numberless  embarrassments  to  all  classes  of 
people  at  Pullman  and  its  vicinity  of  a  closing  down  of  the 
works,  to  prevent  which  the  company  considered  it  a  wise 
policy  to  operate  the  shops  temporarily  at  an  actual  loss. 

In  this  condition  of  things  came  the  agitation  seeking  to 
create  a  labor  organization  embracing  all  railway  employes  and 
apparently  other  industries.  It  is  my  belief  that  the  contro- 
versy excited  at  Pullman  was  merely  a  move  in  the  greater 
scheme,  those  shops  being  selected,  not  on  account  of  discon- 
tent in  them,  but  because  of  their  prominence  in  various  ways, 
and  because  of  the  chance  of  justification  for  a  simultaneous 
and  causeless  attack  upon  the  railways  of  the  country,  for  the 
use  under  long-time  contracts,  by  three-fourths  of  them,  of  the 
Pullman  sleeping-car  system,  a  branch  of  the  company's  busi- 
ness totally  distinct  from  its  manufacturing  of  cars  for  sale. 


36 

Affairs  Explained  to  the  Employes. 

In  the  early  part  of  May  a  committee  of  the  employes  de- 
manded a  restoration  of  the  wages  of  a  year  ago.  I  explained 
to  this  committee  minutely  and  laboriously  the  facts,  showing 
that  the  company  was  already  paying  them  more  than  it  was 
receiving  for  their  contract  work,  and  I  offered  them,  for  com- 
plete assurance,  and  to  end  all  question,  an  inspection  of  our 
books  and  contracts  in  hand.  This,  and  the  beginning  at  once 
at  Pullman  of  a  promised  careful  investigation  of  a  number  of 
shop  complaints,  seemed  to  end  all  trouble,  but  a  day  later, 
under  the  excitement  of  their  recruiting  into  the  new  organiza- 
tion, the  workmen  closed  the  shops  by  abandoning  their  work, 
thus  themselves  doing  what  I  was  strenuously  trying  to  pre- 
vent being  done  by  the  depression  of  the  car-building  business, 
and  the  employes  who  quit  their  work  have  deprived  them- 
selves and  their  comrades  of  earnings  of  more  than  $300,000  up 
to  this  time. 

The  demand  made  before  quitting  work  was  that  the  wages 
should  be  restored  to  the  scale  of  last  year,  or,  in  effect,  that 
the  actual  outgoing  money  losses  then  being  daily  incurred  by 
the  company  in  car-building  should  be  deliberately  increased 
to  an  amount  equal  to  about  one-fourth  of  the  wages 
of  the  employes.  It  must  be  clear  to  every  business 
man,  and  to  every  thinking  workman,  that  no  prudent  employer 
could  submit  to  arbitration  the  question  whether  he  should 
commit  such  a  piece  of  business  folly.  Arbitration  always  im- 
plies acquiescence  in  the  decision  of  the  arbitrator,  whether 
favorable  or  adverse.  How  could  I,  as  president  of  the  Pull- 
man company,  consent  to  agree  that  if  any  body  of  men  not 
concerned  with  the  interests  of  the  company's  shareholders 
should,  as  arbitrators,  for  any  reason  seeming  good  to  them  so 
decree,  I  would  open  the  shops,  employ  workmen  at  wages 
greater  than  their  work  could  be  sold  for,  and  continue  this 
ruinous  policy  indefinitely  ;  or  be  accused  of  a  breach  of  faith  ? 
Who  will  deny  that  such  a  question  is  plainly  not  a  subject  of 
arbitration  ?  Is  it  not  then  unreasonable  that  the  company 
should  be  asked  to  arbitrate  whether  or  not  it  should  submit 
such  a  question  to  arbitration  ?  Removing  the  original  and 
fundamental  question  one  stage  does  not  help  the  matter;  the 
question  would  still  remain  :  Can  I,  as  a  business  man,  know- 
ing the  truth  of  the  facts  which  I  have  stated,  bind  myself  that 
I  will,  in  any  contingency,  open  and  operate  the  Pullman  car 
shops  at  whatever  loss,  if  it  should  happen  to  be  the  opinion  of 
some  third  party  that  I  should  do  so  ?  The  answer  seems  to 
be  plain. 

The  public  should  not  permit  the  real  question  which  has 


37 

been  before  it  to  be  obscured.  1  hat  question  was  as  to  the  pos- 
sibility of  the  creation  and  duration  of  a  dictatorship  which 
could  make  all  the  industries  of  the  United  States  and  the  daily 
comfort  of  the  millions  dependent  upon  them,  hostages  for  the 
granting  of  any  fantastic  whim  of  such  a  dictator.  Any  sub- 
mission to  him  would  have  been  a  long  step  in  that  direction, 
and  in  the  interest  of  every  law-abiding  citizen  of  the  United 
States  was  not  to  be  considered  for  a  moment. 

Charges  Met  and  Answered, 

A  few  words  are  pertinent  as  to  some  industriously  spread 
charges  against  the  company. 

One  of  these  charges  is  that  rents  are  exorbitant,  and  it  is 
implied  that  the  Pullman  employes  have  no  choice  but  to  sub- 
mit. The  answer  is  simple.  The  average  rental  of  tenements 
at  Pullman  is  at  the  rate  of  $3  a  room  a  month,  and  the  renting 
of  houses  at  Pullman  has  no  relation  to  the  work  in  the  shops. 
Employes  may,  and  ver}^  many  do,  own  or  rent  their  homes 
outside  of  the  town;  and  the  buildings  and  business  places  in 
the  town  are  rented  to  employes  or  to  others  in  competition 
with  neighboring  properties.  In  short  the  renting  business  of 
the  Pullman  company  is  governed  by  the  same  conditions 
which  govern  any  other  large  owner  of  real  estate,  except  that 
the  company  itself  does  directly  some  things  which  in  Chicago 
are  assumed  by  the  city.  If,  therefore,  it  is  not  admitted  that 
the  rents  of  any  landlord  are  to  be  fixed  by  arbitration,  and 
that  those  of  the  adjoining  towns  of  Kensington  and  Roseland 
should  also  be  so  fixed,  it  can  hardly  be  asked  that  the  Pullman 
company  alone  should  abandon  the  ordinary  rules  which  gov- 
ern persons  in  that  relation. 

As  to  the  charges  for  water,  the  company  until  lately  had 
a  contract  with  the  village  of  Hyde  Park,  under  which  it  paid 
4  cents  a  1,000  gallons,  and  pumped  the  water  itself.  The 
gross  amount  paid  the  village  monthly  for  the  water  consumed 
by  the  tenants  was  almost  exactly  the  gross  sum  paid  by  the 
tenants  therefor.  Since  the  inclusion  of  Hyde  Park  and  Pull- 
man within  the  city  of  Chicago  the  company  pays  the  city 
about  7  cents  a  1,000  gallons,  and  not  having  increased  the 
charge  to  the  tenants,  is  paying  for  the  water  consumed  by 
them  about  $500  a  month  more  than  is  charged  to  them.  The 
company  has  made  repeated  efforts  to  dissociate  itself  from 
the  supplying  of  water  to  tenants,  but  the  city  of  Chicago  has 
as  yet  failed  to  apply  the  ordinary  frontage  rates  to  the  houses 
and  shops  in  Pullman,  although  it  is  done  in  the  adjacent  towns. 

The  Pullman  company  was  organized  twenty-seven  years 
ago  with  a  capital  of  $1,000,000,  of  which  two-thirds  represented 


38 

the  appraised  value  of  its  cars,  liicii  held  by  three  owners,  and 
one-third  represented  the  appraised  value  of  its  franchises  and 
existing  contracts.  The  company  has  grown  until  its  sleeping- 
car  service  covers  125,000  miles  of  railway,  or  about  three- 
fourths  of  the  railway  system  of  the  country,  and  that  increase 
of  service  has  necessitated  increase  of  its  capital  from  time  to 
time  until  it  is  now  $36,000,000.  There  are  over  4,000  stock- 
holders of  the  company,  of  whom  more  than  one-half  are 
women  and  trustees  of  estates,  and  the  average  holding  of  each 
stockholder  is  now  eighty-six  shares,  one-fifth  of  them  holding 
less  than  six  shares  each. 


[^Notice  posted  o?i  the  gates  of  the  Pullman  shops,  at  Pnlhna/i,  July 
18,  1894.1^ 

"  These  shops  will  be  opened  as  soon  as  the  number  of 
operatives  taken  on  is  sufficient  to  make  a  working  force  in  all 
departments." 


39 
PRESIDENT  PULLMAN'S  STATEMENT 

At  the  Stockholders'  Annual  Meeting,  October  i8,  1894. 


The  strike  at  the  car  works,  which  occurred  May  11,  1894, 
in  consequence  of  which  the  works  were  idle  for  the  remainder 
of  the  fiscal  year  (about  twelve  weeks),  and  the  temporary 
disturbance  of  railway  travel  account  for  some  part  of  the 
large  differences  between  the  figures  of  this  and  the  preceding 
year,  above  given. 

Several  public  statements  made  on  behalf  of  the  company 
and  also  those  made  before  the  United  States  Strike  Commis- 
sion, giving  in  much  detail  the  circumstances  and  events  of  the 
strike  and  the  position  of  the  company  therein,  have  been 
embodied  in  a  pamphlet,  a  copy  of  which  was  duly  sent  to 
each  shareholder. 

The  depression  in  the  car-building  business,  which  began  in 
1893,  manifested  itself  not  only  in  a  falling  off  in  the  prices  for 
cars,  averaging  in  all  classes  24%,  but  in  such  stagnation  that 
the  force  in  the  Pullman  shops  on  November  ist,  1893,  was 
less  than  1,100,  while  the  average  number  employed  in  the 
fiscal  year  ending  July  31st,  1893,  was  4,497.  In  the  months  of 
August  and  September,  1893,  we  had  an  opportunity  of  making 
only  six  bids  for  work,  of  which  but  three  were  accepted. 

In  order  to  procure  car-building  contracts  a  reduction  of  the 
wages  of  April,  1893,  of  the  car  shop  employes,  averaging  19% 
was  made,  to  make  them  correspond  with  those  paid  by  other 
car  manufacturers,  and  by  making  bids  at  shop  cost  and  less, 
we  secured  work  aggregating  about  $1,500,000,  and  were  under- 
bid on  bids  for  nearly  the  same  amount.  On  the  accepted  bids 
our  net  loss  was  over  $50,000.  By  taking  this  course  we  had 
been  able  by  last  May  to  secure  work  enough  to  raise  the 
number  having  employment  to  nearly  3,300. 

Although  these  conditions  were  carefully  explained  to  a 
large  committee  of  the  shop  employes,  three- fourths  of  them 
were  persuaded  to  enter  upon  the  strike,  because  the  company 
declined  to  restore  wages  to  the  scale  of  the  prosperous  times 
of  the  early  part  of  1893.  Several  suggestions  were  made  to 
the  company  that  it  should  consent  to  arbitration  as  a  means 
of  ending  the  strike,  but  it  declined  to  do  so  upon  the  ground 
that  it  being  an  ascertained  fact  that  even  at  the  existing  rates 
of  wages,  car  building  contracts  could  only  be  procured  for 
execution  at  actual  and  serious  losses,  the  company  could  not 
possibly  submit  to  the  discretion  of  any  person,  not  responsible 
to    its   shareholders,   the   question   whether   or   not  it  should 


40 

increase  its  manufacturing  lubi,es  by  any  increase  of  wages,  or 
even  whether  or  not  it  should  continue  the  manufacturing  of 
cars  at  current  prices,  at  the  wages  complained  of. 

On  June  22d  a  demand  for  arbitration  was  presented  to  the 
company  by  a  committee  of  the  American  Railway  Union, 
accompanied  by  the  threat  of  an  attempt  to  stop  the  operation 
of  Pullman  cars.  This  attempt  began  on  June  26th,  and  after 
much  public  discomfort  had  been  caused  and  great  disorders 
had  been  inspired,  of  such  violence  and  extent  as  to  require  the 
intervention  of  the  United  States  military  forces,  it  was  prac- 
ticall)^  overcome  by  about  the  middle  of  July. 

We  then  began  receiving  applications  for  employment  at 
the  shops,  and  were  able  to  open  the  repair  department  on 
August  2d,  and  gradually  the  other  departments;  but  the  busi- 
ness to  be  done  has  justified  the  employment  of  little  more 
than  three-fourths  of  the  number  employed  at  the  time  of  the 
strike. 

There  has  been  no  substantial  change  in  the  condition  of 
the  car  building  business,  and  the  contracts  taken  by  us  before 
the  strike,  and  those  taken  since  the  strike,  are  being  executed 
at  prices  which  give  no  profit,  and  such  contracts  are  taken 
because  the  shops  are  being  kept  in  operation  for  the  repairing 
of  the  company's  own  cars,  and  to  give  as  much  employment 
as  is  possible  in  the  present  condition  of  business.. 

I  have  learned  in  various  ways  that  a  good  many  persons 
during  the  strike  lost  sight  of  its  true  origin,  and  gained  the 
impression  that  it  was  influenced  by  the  house  rents  at  Pullman 
not  being  lowered  when  wages  were  reduced  from  the  high 
scale  of  the  spring  of  1893.  That  this  is  not  true  is  shown  by 
the  fact  that  more  than  two-thirds  of  the  employes  who  began 
the  strike,  were  not  tenants  of  the  company;  indeed,  between 
500  and  600  of  them  owned  their  own  homes.  It  is  true  that 
frame  houses,  at  slightly  lower  rents,  may  be  had  in  the  adja- 
cent towns  by  such  employes  as  do  not  consider  the  small 
difference  in  rent  to  be  much  more  than  made  up  by  the  advan- 
tages of  well  built  brick  houses,  with  gas  and  water  and  drain- 
age connections,  situated  on  paved  and  shaded  and  cleaned 
streets,  and  in  attractive  surroundings.  These  things  being 
taken  into  account,  the  rents  in  Pullman  are  really  cheaper. 
When  it  is  considered  that  there  are  more  than  1,800  tenements 
in  Pullman,  and  that  there  have  been,  in  the  fourteen  years 
since  the  town  was  founded,  only  about  six  forcible  evictions 
of  undesirable  tenants,  it  is  clear  that  the  relations  of  the  com- 
pany with  its  tenants  have  been  free  from  dififlculty  in  a  most 
extraordinary  degree. 

The  number  of  men  now  employed  at  the  shops  is  2,640, 
and  the  scale  of  wages  now  is  the  same  as  that  existing  at  the 


41 

time  of  the  strike,  and  rents  are  promptly  paid.  As  to  the 
tenants  who  were  not  reemployed,  none  of  them  have  been 
evicted,  or  unduly  pressed  for  their  arrearages  of  rent;  there 
has  been  a  gradual  voluntary  departure  of  unemployed  tenants 
going  on,  as  they  have  found  work  elsewhere,  and  there  are 
now  279  of  them  remaining. 

The  real  cause  of  complaint  during  the  autumn  of  1893  and 
the  succeeding  winter  was  not  altogether  on  account  of  the 
scale  of  wages,  but  largely  because  there  was  not  enough  work 
to  give  an  opportunity  for  anything  like  full  earnings  by  all 
the  men. 

The  average  daily  pay  to  journeymen  mechanics  at  the  time 
of  the  strike  was  $2. 03,  and  charges  of  insufficient  wages  have 
for  their  foundation  chiefly  the  misleading  statements  of  three 
mechanics  to  whom  full  employment  could  not  be  given,  but 
two  of  whom  nevertheless  earned  $634.00  and  $642.00  respect- 
ively, in  the  year,  and  the  other  earned  $345.00,  working  hardly 
more  than  half  time.  The  wages  paid  were  in  fact  current 
wages  in  such  trades,  and  substantially  the  same  as  at  our 
Wilmington  shops,  where  the  attempt  of  the  American  Railway 
Union  to  cause  a  strike  met  with  no  concurrence  on  the  part  of 
the  employes. 

If  the  men  had  continued  at  work  instead  of  remaining  idle 
for  nearly  three  months,  wages  amounting  to  more  than 
$350,000.00  would  have  been  paid  them,  a  sum  to  be  contrasted 
with  the.  total  value  of  contributions  made  for  them,  which  so 
far  as  we  are  advised,  did  not  exceed  $50,000.00. 

I  may  observe  also,  that  there  have  been  indications  of  a 
feeling  in  some  quarters  that  this  company  ought  to  have 
maintained  the  scale  of  wages  existing  in  the  car  manufactur- 
ing department  in  April,  1893,  without  regard  to  the  current 
selling  prices  for  cars,  paying  the  consequent  increased  losses 
in  the  car-building  business  out  of  the  company's  earnings  in 
the  independent  business  of  operating  sleeping  cars,  and  thus 
sharing  the  sleeping-car  earnings  with  the  car-building  em- 
ployes, who,  to  use  the  language  of  one  questioner,  "had  been 
working  for  a  long  time."  Such  a  principle  of  business  would 
as  well  require  the  mechanics  to  be  kept  on  the  roll  at  full  pay, 
even  if  there  was  no  work  for  them.  It  must  also  be  remem- 
bered that  the  company's  business  of  operating  sleeping  cars  is 
the  growth  of  twenty-seven  years,  and  the  entirely  independent 
business  of  car  manufacturing,  for  sale,  at  Pullman,  has  been 
going  on  only  one-half  that  time.  At  what  point  did  a  prin- 
ciple take  effect  that  the  latter  business  must  be  kept  going  by 
the  former,  regardless  of  their  independence  or  of  the  discrep- 
ancy between  the  cost  and  selling  price  of  cars?  At  the  time 
of  the  strike  227  of  the  shop  employes  had  been  in  the  employ- 


42 

Tnent  of  the  company  for  less  than  a  year,  and  more  than  half 
the  entire  force  had  been  with  the  company  less  than  five 
years.  Had  all  of  them  earned  a  guaranty  of  uninterrupted, 
undiminished  wages?  And  if  not,  where  was  the  line  to  be 
drawn,  and  what  was  to  be  done  in  respect  to  shop  employes, 
of  varying  terms  of  service,  who  were  laid  off  in  the  summer 
of  1893  fo^  l^ck  of  work,  and  who  have  not  been  reemployed? 

Of  the  present  force  at  the  car  shops  only  about  300  are 
new  employes,  and  the  remainder  have  returned  to  their  former 
work  with,  I  believe,  a  widely  prevailing  feeling,  that  they  have 
learned  by  experience  that  this  company  was  earnest  in 
befriending  them  in  seeking  work  for  them  when  little  was  to 
be  had,  and  in  giving  them  work  at  wages  which  the  selling 
prices  of  their  product  did  not  justify,  and  that  the  genuine- 
ness of  the  interest  of  this  company  in  their  welfare  is  far 
more  to  be  trusted  than  the  promises  of  the  agitators  who 
misled  them. 

By  increased  attention  to  their  work  the  mechanics  have 
under  the  same  scale  of  piece-work  prices  increased  their 
average  daily  earnings  from  $2.03  in  last  April,  to  $2.16  in  the 
last  half  of  September,  the  latest  report  received. 


43 

[From  Harper's  Weekly,  Nov.  24,  iSg^..'] 

REVOLUTIONARY  STATESMANSHIP. 


The  report  of  the  President's  Commission  to  investigate  the 
causes  and  the  history  of  the  trouble  known  as  "the  Pullman 
strike"  of  last  summer  has  been  for  several  days  before  the 
public.  The  comments  which  it  has  elicited  have  been  of 
peculiar  interest,  as  revealing  the  mental  attitude  upon  social 
questions,  and  the  habits  of  thought  concerning  them,  of  the 
men  who  aspire  to  lead  or  at  least  to  forecast  public  opinion. 
The  leaders  of  the  war  against  law  and  order,  who  undertook 
to  coerce  the  community  into  disregard  of  its  own  laws,  now 
laud  the  report,  and  exult  in  its  conclusions  as  the  final  vindi- 
cation of  their  own  motives  and  methods.  The  more  thought- 
ful members  of  the  press  treat  it  with  qualified  and  formal 
respect,  accepting  its  detailed  statements  of  evidence,  but 
exposing  its  summaries  of  fact  and  generalized  assertions  as 
grossly  inaccurate  and  partial,  and  wholly  rejecting  its  pro- 
posed remedial  measures  as  absurdly  inadequate  if  not  wholly 
useless.  Other  journals  generally  content  themselves  with 
an  abstract  of  the  Commission's  views  as  the  end  of  the 
controversy,  and  a  substantial  victory  for  what  they  call 
•"organized  labor." 

But  there  is  nothing  in  these  comments  which  can  satisfy 
the  intelligent  and  patriotic  citizen  wh'o  reads  the  report  and 
feels  its  astonishing  spirit  and  character.  Every  such  reader  is 
startled  by  finding  in  a  state  paper  a  system  of  thought,  a  kind 
of  reasoning,  a  quiet  assumption  of  principles,  such  as  no 
•document  of  similar  high  official  origin  ever  expressed  before. 
If  Messrs.  Carroll  D.  Wright,  John  D.  Kernan,  and  Nich- 
olas E.  Worthington  represent  in  these  principles  and  this 
reasoning  the  government  which  appointed  them,  and  if 
that  government  represents  in  these  things  the  people  of  the 
United  States,  then  the  civilized  society  in  which  we  live,  with 
its  present  laws  and  customs,  with  the  rights  they  recognize, 
and  the  machinery  of  jurisprudence  to  define  and  enforce  them, 
is  an  anachronism,  for  all  these  have  lost  their  place  in  the 
convictions  and  affections  of  the  people.  The  most  moment- 
ous stage  in  every  revolution  is  that  which  takes  place  silently 
in  the  popular  mind,  and  of  which  all  that  follows  in  upturning 
institutions  and  reconstituting  society  is  but  the  necessary 
sequence  and  expression.  If  the  mass  of  our  citizens  think  as 
these  commissioners  think,  this  first  chief  stage  in  a  socialistic 
revolution  is  already  far  advanced,  and  the  transformation  of 
our  nineteenth-century  civilization  into  something  widely  dif- 


44 

ferent,  and  as  yet  wholly  unimagined,  is  a  process  which  can- 
not long  be  dela)^ed. 

In  reaching  this  conclusion  it  is  not  needful  to  question  any^ 
of  the  assertions  of  fact  made  by  the  report.  True,  these  are 
challenged  in  many  points  by  men  who  know  the  truth,  and 
the  labored  and  persistent  effort  in  them  to  relieve  from 
reproach  the  strikers,  rioters,  and  friends  of  disorder,  and  to^ 
.exhibit  as  unwise  or  questionable  every  principal  step  taken  to 
oppose  them,  is  the  characteristic  feature  of  the  commissioners* 
statement.  I3ut  the  amazing  nature  of  their  reasoning  is  far 
more  important.  Admit  the  strict  accuracy,  the  absolute 
impartiality,  of  every  assertion  they  have  made,  in  general 
and  in  detail,  and  still  the  conclusions  they  draw  are  such  as  no^ 
other  tribunal  in  Christendom  would  have  drawn,  such  as 
can  be  entertained  only  by  those  who  first  reject  the  accepted 
principles  of  political  economy  and  the  entire  doctrine  of 
rights  and  of  remedies  in  our  common  law. 

One  or  two  examples  of  their  method  of  reasoning  will 
sufifice.  The  report  shows  clearly  that  for  about  eight  months- 
prior  to  May  I,  1894,  the  Pullman  company  had  kept  its  men 
at  work  on  contracts  for  building  cars  which  cost  them,  for 
materials  and  labor  at  the  yards,  $52,069  more  than  they 
received  for  them,  or  3.66  per  cent.  That  is  to  say,  for  the 
sake  of  keeping  its  hands  employed,  it  paid  them  every  dollar 
their  labor  added  to  the  value  of  the  material  used,  and  $52,000- 
besides.  The  company  avowed  its  policy  to  make  this  sacrifice 
for  the  sake  of  its  workmen,  and  as  a  public  service.  But  the 
commissioners  go  out  of  their  way  to  argue  that  the  loss  in 
question  was  incurred  for  purely  selfish  reasons — "that  its  plant 
might  not  rust;  that  its  competitors  might  not  invade  its  terri- 
tory; that  it  might  keep  its  cars  in  repair,"  etc.  This  entire 
argument  on  the  company's  motive  is  irrelevant,  and  is  only 
introduced  as  a  cover  and  diversion  to  the  extraordinary  bit  of 
logic  which  it  follows.  The  substantial  fact  is  that  the  com- 
pany kept  its  men  at  work  to  its  own  direct  loss  of  about  $300^ 
each  working  day  for  many  months.  Now  the  report  compares, 
the  aggregate  wages  paid  during  this  time  with  the  wages, 
which  would  have  been  paid  had  the  rates  paid  in  the  preced- 
ing time  of  great  prosperity  and  large  profits  been  maintained. 
At  the  scale  of  wages  in  use  up  to  June,  1893,  the  company 
would  have  paid  during  the  eight  months  in  question  $6o,000' 
more  than  it  actually  paid.  What  is  the  conclusion?  Simply 
that  the  company  lost  $52,000,  but  that  its  men  lost  $60,000,  an 
unfair  division  of  the  loss!  These  practical  economists  delib- 
erately suggest  that  the  company  ought  to  have  borne  "three- 
quarters  of  the  loss,"  instead  of  less  than  a  half;  it  ought  to 
have  paid  wages  to  the  amount  of  $32,000  more,  and   reduced 


45 

the  "loss"  of  its  workmen  to  $28,000.  In  other  words,  it  is 
severely  censured  for  having  given  its  laborers  a  pure  gratuity 
of  $52,000,  at  a  time  when  its  entire  capital  was  earning  nothing, 
because  it  did  not  give  them  $84,000. 

What  is  the  state  of  mind  of  men  who  sign  such  a  report? 
What  are  the  silent  assumptions  which  underlie  this  reasoning? 
Simply  that  the  rights  of  property  are  not  worthy  of  regard; 
that  the  trustees  of  the  thousand  or  more  investors  who  hold 
the  stock  of  the  Pullman  company  have  no  duty  to  these  stock- 
holders which  does  not  vanish  before  the  sentimental  dictates 
of  a  fanciful  charity;  that  the  property  of  countless  families 
may  be  given  away  by  their  agents  without  consulting  the 
principals.  It  is  futher  assumed  that  the  private  business  of 
corporations  is  of  its  nature  a  public  eleemosynary  institution, 
and  the  principles  implied  by  the  report  would  shame  all 
honest  labor  into  dependence,  and  turn  the  face  of  industry 
towards  beggary.  But,  worst  of  all,  the  commissioners  parade 
in  this  argument  their  utter  indifference  to  the  claims  of  the 
numberless  laboring  men  who  in  these  times  could  find  no 
employment  and  earn  nothing.  Thousands  of  them  stood 
ready  at  all  times  to  take  the  places  of  the  strikers,  and  would 
have  entered  the  workshops  at  the  actual  wages  paid  as  a  sort 
of  paradise.  Yet  the  unorganized  and  voiceless  multitude  are 
forgotten,  and  the  Commission  would  have  the  discontented 
group  of  the  employed  selected  to  be  fed,  clothed  and  housed 
at  a  rate  far  beyond  the  value  of  their  work,  by  a  forced  levy, 
primarily  upon  the  stockholders,  and  therefore  ultimately  upon 
the  community  at  large,  and  especially  upon  the  unemployed. 
Thus  the  first  principles  of  economical  science  are  outraged  by 
the  assumptions  of  the  report. 

Again,  the  commissioners  show  that  the  American  Railway 
Union  violated  its  own  constitution:  first,  by  admitting  the  car- 
builders  as- members;  secondly,  by  sustaining  their  clearly 
"unjustifiable  demand"  for  the  wages  of  June,  1893;  and 
thirdly,  by  pj-oclaiming  a  sympathetic  strike  against  the  rail- 
roads, the  commerce  of  the  country,  and  the  peace  and  welfare 
of  the  nation  to  enforce  this  demand.  They  further  make  it 
clear  that  the  union  exercised  no  restraint  upon  its  members  in 
their  acts  of  violence,  but  by  its  constitution  and  the  acts  of 
its  leaders  encouraged  them  to  many  forms  of  crime.  But  its 
elaborate  comments  on  the  admitted  facts  throw  all  the  blame 
for  the  resulting  disorder  and  loss  upon  those  who  combined 
for  no  purpose  but  to  restore  order  and  protect  life  and  prop- 
erty. Proclaiming,  with  emphasis,  that  the  striking  unions  had 
"  no  grievances  against  the  railroads,"  they  go  on  severely  to 
censure  the  roads  as  having  caused  all  the  trouble  by  refusing 
to  arbitrate  the  dispute.    And  they  reserve  their  highest  strains 


46 

of  eulogy  for  the  "  dignified,  manly,  and  conservative  conduct'" 
of  the  Pullman  strikers,  in  that  they  did  not  burn  the  shops 
and  destroy  the  machinery  by  which  they  hoped  thereafter  to 
live.  This  abstinence  from  the  most  foolish  and  wicked  of 
crimes  is  to  the  Commission  the  bright  and  promising  feature 
of  this  sad  history,  and  "  worthy  of  the  highest  type  of  Amer- 
ican citizenship."  Indeed,  the  fact  that  most  of  the  Pullman 
workmen  refrained  from  arson  and  murder  in  their  own  towa 
is  hailed  by  the  report  as  an  earnest  of  "  the  lawful  and  orderly 
redress  of  labor  wrongs."  Can  the  fatuous  defiance  of  all  the 
foundations  of  morality  and  law  go  further  than  this  ? 

It  is  needless  to  follow  the  reasoning  of  the  commissioners, 
on  other  subjects.  The  principles  silently  assumed  by  them 
throughout  the  report  are  the  negatives  of  all  those  on  which 
civilized  society  has  hitherto  rested.  Economics,  in  their 
minds,  are  not  science,  but  sentiment.  Law,  to  them,  is  not 
the  permanent  definition  and  enforcement  of  rights,  but  an 
antiquated  mass  of  traditions,  to  be  brushed  aside  or  re- 
moulded by  a  temporary  and  apparent  expediency.  The 
society  to  which  they  look  is  not  the  Christian  and  industrial 
civilization  which  embodies  all  that  history  has  achieved  for 
man,  which  reverences  the  moral  law,  and  applies  it  by  guard- 
ing vested  rights  as  sacred,  but  is  a  vague  dream  of  a  socialistic 
community,  in  which  every  man 'has  an  undefined  claim  upon 
the  property  and  labor  of  every  other.  These  principles,  we 
firmly  believe,  need  but  to  be  disentangled  from  the  specious 
disguises  of  irrelevant  fact  and  plausible  thought  which  fill  this 
report  to  be  rejected  by  the  strong  sense  of  the  American 
people.  If  the  Commission  is  a  body  of  statesmen,  their 
statesmanship  is  revolutionary.  But  they  stand  too"  nearly 
alone  among  our  public  men  to  form  a  danger  signal.  The 
nation  is  not  yet  ready  to  give  up  all  its  standards  of  morality 
and  law. 


REPORT 


CHICAGO   STEIKE 


JUNE-JXJLY,   1894, 


UMTED  STATES  STRIKE  COMMISSION, 

APPOINTED    BY   THE   PRESIDENT   JULY   26,    1894,    UNDER   THE 

PROVISIONS  OF   SECTION  6   OF    CHAPTER    1063   OF 

THE    LAWS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES 

PASSED  OCTOBER  1,  1888, 


APPENDICES  CONTAINING  TESTIMONY,  PROCEEDINGS,  AND  RECOMMENDATIONS. 


WASHINGTOIT: 

GOYEKNMENT    PRINTING    OFFICE. 
1895. 


G'^- 


UNITED  STATES  STRIKE  COMMISSION. 


com:m:issioner?5. 

CARROLL  D.  WRIGHT,  Ex-officio  Chairman Reading,  Mass. 

JOHN  D.  KERNAN Utica,  N.  Y. 

NICHOLAS  E.  WORTHINGTON Peoria,  III. 

CLERKS. 

EUGENE  B.  HASTINGS Utica,  N.  Y. 

WILLIAM  H.  RAND Keene,  N.  H. 

STENOGRAPHERS. 

CHARLES  P.  WATSON Peoria,  III. 

CYRUS  L.  WATSON '. Peoria,  III. 

CHARLES  W.  MORRIS,  JR Harrisburg,  Pa. 

U.  S.  DEPUTY  MARSHAL  (IN  ATTENDANCE). 
H.  BARTLETT  LINDLEY Chicago,  III. 


CONTENTS. 


Page. 

Message  of  the  President IX 

Letter  of  Transmittal XIII 

Introduction XV-XVIII 

Losses  and  Crimes XVIII,  XIX 

Troops,  Military,  etc XIX,  XX 

Pullman's  Palace  Car  Company XXI-XXIII 

The  American  Eailway  Union XXIII-XX VIII 

The  General  Managers'  Association XXVIII-XXXI 

The  Pullman  strike  :  Its  causes  and  events XXXII-XXXIX 

Wages XXXII-XXXV 

Rents XXXV,  XXXVI 

Shop  abuses XXXVI 

The  strike XXXVII-XXXIX 

Railroad  strike XXXIX-XLVI 

Action  of  federated  unions XL-XLII 

Action  of  the  General  Managers'  Association XLII,  XLIII 

Violence  and  destruction  of  property  and  military  proceedings.. .  XLIII-XLVI 

Conclusions  and  recommendations XLVI-LI V 

Appendix  A. — Testimony  and  proceedings 1-653 

Testimony  on  behalf  of  the  railway  employees 4-212 

Testimony  of  George  W.  Howard 4-58 

Testimony  of  James  R.  Sovereign 59-71 

Testimony  of  George  W.  Lovejoy 71-77 

Testimony  of  Sylvester  Keliher 78-94 

Testimony  of  B.  B.  Ray 94-101 

Testimony  of  E.  M.  Goodwin 101, 102 

Testimony  of  H.  F.  Griswold 102, 103 

Testimony  of  James  B.  Couners 101-108 

Testimony  of  Franklin  R.  Mills 108-110 

Testimony  of  Charles  Naylor 111-114 

Testimony  of  Frank  Wells 114, 115 

Testimony  of  Martin  J.  Elliott 115-117 

Testimony  of  Frank  T.  McDonald 117-126 

Testimony  of  Charles  B.  St.  Clair 126-128 

Testimony  of  Eugene  V.  Debs 129-180 

Testimony  of  P.  H.  Morrissy 180-185 

Testimony  of  Edgar  E.  Clark 185-187 

Testimony  of  Samuel  Gompers 188-205 

Testimony  of  John  T.  Norton 206,  207 

Testimony  of  W.  F.  Guyon 207-212 

Testimony  on  the  part  of  the  Chicago,  Rock  Island  and  Pacific  Railway 

Company .• 212-324 

Testimony  of  Everett  St.  John 212-269 

Testimony  of  John  M.  Egan 269-282 

Testimony  of  Charles  Dunlap 282-285 

V 


VI  CONTENTS. 

Appendix  A.— Testimony  and  proceedings— Contirmed. 

Testimony  on  the  part  of  the  Chicago,  Rock.  Island  and  Pacific  Railway 
Company — Concluded.  Ta^e. 

Testimony  of  F.W.McKee 285-288 

Testimony  of  S.  C.  Wade 288-295 

Testimony  of  William  Richard  Mooney 295-309 

Testimony  of  11.  R.  Saunders 309-311 

Testimony  of  L.  A.  Camp 311 

Testimony  of  W.  G.  Fuller 312 

Testimony  of  G.  D.  Cruely 313-315 

Testimony  of  W.  J.  Kruse 315,  316 

Testimony  of  Frank  Conroy 316-318 

Testimony  of  D.  Braham 318 

Testimony  of  John  Digan - 318 

Testimony  of  George  Furlong 318,  319 

Testimony  of  Owen  O'Keefe 319 

Testimony  of  Fred  Daumbach 319 

Testimony  of  Joseph  Rippet 319 

Testimony  of  George  Davis 320 

Testimony  of  Otto  Morling 320 

Testimony  of  James  Simmons 320,  321 

Testimony  of  Alexander  Quasso 321 

Testimony  of  Henry  Lusson 321 

Testimony  of  J.  H.  Cady 322,323 

Testimony  of  John  Clancy 323 

Testimony  of  M.  Kubelsky 323 

Testimony  of  Charles  Keck -. 323,  324 

Testimony  of  J.  C.  Klein 324 

Testimony  of  Paxil  Clausen 324 

Testimony  of  John  Clausen 324 

Testimony  on  the  part  of  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad  Company 325-338 

Testimony  of  Albert  W.  Sullivan 325-338 

General  testimony  relating  to  the  strike 339-408 

Testimony  of  Gen.  Nelson  A.  Miles 339,  340 

Testimony  of  John  C.  Donnelly 340-344 

Testimony  of  John  P.  Hopkins 344-353 

Testimony  of  Michael  Brennan 353-360 

Testimony  of  Malcomb  McDowell , 360-368 

Testimony  of  Ray  Baker 368-370 

Testimony  of  Harold  I.  Cleveland 370-374 

Testimony  of  Victor  M.  Harding 374-380 

Testimony  of  William  H.T.  Sliiide 380-383 

Testimony  of  W.  C.  Roberts 383,  384 

Testimony  of  William  K.  McKay 384,  385 

Testimony  of  Nicholas  Hunt 385-389 

Testimony  of  John  E.  Fitzpatrick 389,  390 

Testimony  of  John  Fitzgerald 390-392 

Testimony  of  Joseph  L.  Kenyou 392-395 

Testimony  of  Benjamin  H.  Atwell 396-399 

Testimony  of  N.  D.  Hutton 399-402 

Testimony,  of  Hubert  F.  Miller 402-408 

Testimony  of  witnesses  with  reference   1o  raihoad  losses  during  the 

strike,  called  by  the  commission  on  its  own  motion 408-416 

Testimony  of  Chauncey  Kelsey 408,  409 

Testimony  of  William  McFaddeu 409,  410 


CONTENTS.  VII 

Appendix  A. — Testimony  and  proceedings— Concluded. 

Testiiiiouy  of  witnesses  with  reference  to  railroad  losses  during  the  strike, 
called  by  the  commission. on  its  own  motion — Concluded.  Page. 

Testimony  of  E.  P.  Bronghton 410,411 

Testimony  of  John  D.  Besler 411,  412 

Testimony  of  William  O.  Johnson..,. 412,413 

Testimony  of  J.  M.Whitman 413,414 

Testimony  of  W.  N.  D.  Wiune 414,  415 

Testimony  of  Arthur  G.  Wells 415 

Testimony  of  E.  St.  .John 416 

Testimony  on  the  part  of  striking  employees  at  the  town  of  Pullman. . .   416-468 

Testimony  of  Thomas  W.  Heathcoate 416-433 

Testimony  of  Jennie  Curtis 43.3-435 

Testimony  of  Theodore  Rhodie 435-438 

Testimony  of  R.  W.  Coombs 438-441 

Testimony  of  Merritt  Brown w 441-444 

Testimony  of  Rev.  William  H.  Carwardine 444-454 

Testimony  of  Mary  Alice  Wood 454-457 

Testimony  of  Arthur  M.  Wilson 457,  458 

Testimony  of  Myrtle  Webb 458, 459 

Testimony  of  Michael  J  Carroll 459-462 

Testimony  of  Rev.  Morris  L.  Wickman 462-465 

Testimony  of  Andrew  W.  Pearson 466-468 

Testimony  on  the  part  of  Pullman's  Palace  Car  Company 468-641 

Testimony  of  Frank  W.  T.  Glover 468-473 

Testimony  of  Paul  E.  Hearnes 473-476 

Testimony  of  L.  H.  Johnson 476-480 

Testimony  of  Axel  Lundgren 480-483 

Testimony  of  John. McLean 483-492 

Testimony  of  Isaiah  Campbell 492-495 

Testimony  of  Duane  Doty 495-507 

Testimony  of  Charles  Cor-kery 507, 508 

Testimony  of  Edward  F.  Bryant 508-526 

Testimony  of  Charles  H.  Eaton .526-528 

Testimony  of  George  M.  Pullman , . .  528-569 

Testimony  of  Thomas  H.  Wickes 570-630 

Questions  submitted  by  Enoch  Harpole 630-633 

Testimony  of  Charles  E.  Webb 633 

Testimony  of  William  P.  Hoornbeek 633-636 

Testimony  of  James  L.  Walker 636-638 

Testimony  of  Henry  O.  Lindeblad 638-641 

Miscellaneous  testimony;    also   proceedings   at  adjourned   meeting  at 

Washington,  D.  C,  September  26, 1894 641-653 

Testimony  of  Edward  W.  Bemis 641-645 

Testimony  of  Jane  Addams 645-648 

Statements  of  A.  I.  Ambler 648-651 

Testimony  of  Gustav  Augerstein 651-653 

Appendix  B. — Recommendations  to  the  commission 655-681 

Arbitration,  compulsory  or  otherwise 657-661 

Comments  and  general  suggestions 661-667 

Commission  to  be  created  by  United  States  Statutes 667 

Defects  in  our  financial  system  a  source  of  present  depression 667,  668 

Divers  proposed  measures  of  legislation  for  the  benefit  of  labor 668-671 

Governmental  ownership  or  control  of  railroads 671-673 

Judicial  methods  of  various  kinds  suggested 674 


VlII  CONTENTS. 

Appendix  B. — Recommendations  to  the  Commission — Concluded.  I»ag6. 

To  license  railroad  employees 674,  675 

Matters  relating  solels'  to  the  conditions  at  Pullman 676 

Methods  ot  prevention  of  labor  troubles,  not  statutory 676-678 

Railroad  employees  to  be  pensioned 678 

Single-tax  theory 678,  679 

Views  of  non-union  employees  and  others  advocating  non-unionism 679,680 

Wages,  statutory  regulation  of 680,  681 

Communications  bearing  upon  the  relations  of  capital  to  labor 681 


MESSAGE 

FROM    THE 

PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 


TRANSMITTING 


The  report  of  tJie  Stril-e.  Commission  on  the  Chicago  strile  of  Jiine-July, 

1894. 


D-ECEMBER  10,  1894— Ordered  to  lie  on  the  table  and  be  printed. 


To  the  Senate  and.  House  of  Representatives. 

1  transmit  herewith  the  report  on  the  Chicago  strike  of  June-July, 
1894,  forwarded  to  me  by  the  Strike  Coinmission  appointed  July  20, 
1894,  under  the  provisions  of  section  6  of  chapter  1003  of  the  laws  of 
the  United  States,  passed  October  1,  1888, 

The  testimony  taken  by  the  commission  and  the  suggestions  and 

recommendations  made  to  it  accompany  the  report  in  the  form  of 

appendices. 

Geover  Cleveland. 
Executive  Mansion, 

December  10,  1894, 


REPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSIONERS. 


LETTER  OF  TRANSMITTAL. 


United  States  Strike  Commission, 

Washington,  J).  6\,  November  14,  1894. 
Sir:  We  have  the  honor  to  hand  you  herewith  our  report  upon  the 
controversies  which  arose  between  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad  Com- 
pany and  the  Chicago,  Eock  Island  and  Pacific  Eailway  Company  and 
certain  of  their  employees  in  June  last.  This  report  is  made  in  accord- 
ance with  your  directions  of  the  2Gth  of  July  and  under  the  provisions 
of  section  6  of  chapter  1063  of  the  laws  of  the  United  States  passed 
October  1,  1888. 

The  appropriation  ai^plicable  to  the  investigation  which  Ave  have 
conducted  was  $5,000,  a  sum  which  has  proved  amply  sufficient  for  all 
the  expenses  of  the  commission. 

In  addition  to  our  report  covering  our  consideration,  conclusions, 
and  recommendations,  we  hand  you  herewith  a  copy  of  the  testimony 
taken  at  the  hearings  conducted  by  the  commission,  a  digest  of  the 
suggestions  made  in  writing  to  the  commission,  and  various  other 
matters  which  have  been  submitted  to  it,  all  bearing  upon  the  difficul- 
ties and  controversies  considered.  These  matters  are  iu  the  form  of 
appendices. 

We  are,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servants, 

Carroll  I).  Wright. 
John  D.  Kernan. 
Nicholas  E.  Worthington. 
The  President. 

XIII 


REPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSIONERS. 


Upon  the  -!6th  of  July,  18*J4,  the  President  of  the  Uuited  States 
issued  the  following,  viz : 

GrEOVER  Cleveland, 
President  of  the  United  States  of  America. 
To  all  to  whom  these  i)reseuts  shall  come,  greeting : 

Know  ye,  that  whereas  controversies  have  arisen  between  the  Illi- 
nois Central  Eailroad  Company,  and  the  Chicago,  Eock  Island  and 
Pacific  Kailway  Company,  two  corporations  engaged  in  the  transporta- 
tion of  property  and  passengers  between  two  or  more  States  of  the 
United  States,  and  certain  of  their  employees,  which  controversies  may 
hinder,  impede,  obstruct,  interrupt  or  affect  such  transportation  of 
passengers  or  property; 

And,  whereas  the  premises  and  the  representations  on  behalf  of  said 
employees  being  considered,  the  conditions  in  my  opinion  justify  and 
require  the  creation  of  a  temporary  commission  to  examine  the  causes 
of  said  controversies,  the  conditions  accompanying  the  same  and  the 
best  means  of  their  adjustment,  as  authorized  by  section  (>  of  chapter 
1063  of  the  laws  of  the  United  States  passed  on  the  first  day  of  Octo- 
ber, 1888; 

Kow,  therefore,  by  authority  of  the  statute  aforesaid,  Carroll  D. 
Wright,  Commissioner  of  Labor  of  the  United  States,  who  is  desig- 
nated in  said  statute,  and  John  D.  Kernan,  of  the  State  of  New  York, 
and  Nicholas  E.  Worthiugton,  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  hereby  appointed 
by  the  President  of  the  United  States  commissioners  under  said  act, 
shall  pursuant  to  the  provisions  of  said  act,  constitute  a  temporary 
commission  for  the  purposes  therein  specified. 

The  said  commission  is  hereby  directed  to  visit  the  State  of  Illinois 
and  the  city  of  Chicago,  and  such  other  places  in  the  United  States  as 
may  appear  proper  in  the  judgment  of  the  commission,  to  the  end 
that  it  may  make  careful  inquiry  into  the  causes  of  any  pending  dis- 
pute or  existing  controversies  and  hear  all  persons  interested  therein 
who  may  come  before  it;  and  said  commission  shall  exercise  all  the 
powers,  perform  all  the  duties  and  be  subject  to  all  the  obligations 
conferred  and  enjoined  by  the  statute  aforesaid  upon  temporary  com- 
missions created  pursuant  to  its  provisions. 

In  witness  whereof  I  have  subscribed  my  name  hereto  and  caused  the 

seal  of  the  United  States  to  be  hereunto  affixed  this  twenty- 

.  1   ^i^th  day  of  July  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight 

1^  'J   hundred  and  ninety-four,  and   of  the   Independence  of  the 

Uuited  States  of  America  the  one  kundred  and  nineteenth. 

Grover  Cleveland. 

By  the  President: 
W.  Q.  Gresham, 

Secretary  of  State, 

XV 


XVI  CHICAGO    STRIKE. 

Section  6  of  chapter  1063  of  the  laws  of  the  United  States  passed 
October  1,  1888,  reads  as  follows : 

That  the  President  may  select  two  commissioners,  one  of  whom  at 
least  shall  be  a  resident  of  the  State  or  Territory  in  which  the  contro- 
versy arises,  who,  together  with  the  Commissioner  of  Labor,  shall 
constitute  a  temporary  commission  for  the  purpose  of  examining  the 
causes  of  the  controversy,  the  conditions  accom])anying,  and  the  best 
means  for  adjusting  it;  the  result  of  which  examination  shall  be  imme- 
diately reported  to  the  President  and  Congress,  and  on  the  rendering  of 
such  leport  the  services  of  the  two  commissioners  shall  cease. 

"The  controversy"  referred  to  is  defined  in  section  1  of  said  chapter 
1063  as  follows: 

Whenever  dilferences  or  controversies  arise  between  railroad  or  other 
transportation  companies  engaged  in  the  transportation  of  property  or 
pasgeugers  between  two  or  more  States  of  the  United  States,  between 
a  Territory  and  State,  within  the  Territories  of  the  United  States,  or 
within  the  District  of  Columbia,  and  the  employees  of  said  railroad 
companies,  which  differences  or  controversies  may  hinder,  impede, 
obstruct,  interrupt,  or  affect  such  transportation  of  property  or  passen- 
gers. 

At  its  first  meeting  in  the  city  of  Washington,  D.  C,  held  on  the  31st 
day  of  July,  1894,  the  commission  adopted  the  following  preamble  and 
resolutions : 

Whereas  the  President  of  the  United  States  has  appointed  the  under- 
signed a  commission  to  visit  Chicago,  111.,  and  such  other  places  in  the 
United  States  as  may  be  proper,  in  the  judgment  of  the  commission,  to 
the  end  that  it  may  make  careful  inquiry  into  the  causes  of  any  pending- 
dispute  or  existing  controversies  between  the  Illinois  Central  Eailroad 
Company  and  the  Chicago,  Eock  Island  and  Pacific  Railway  Company 
and  certain  of  their  employees,  and  to  hear  all  persons  interested  therein 
who  may  come  before  it;  and 

Whereas  section  6  of  chapter  1063  of  the  laws  of  the  United  States 
passed  October  1,  1888,  makes  it  the  duty  of  said  commission  to  exam- 
ine the  causes  of  said  controversies,  the  conditions  accompanying  and 
the  best  means  of  adjusting  the  same,  and  to  report  the  results  of  such 
examination  to  the  President  and  to  Congress;  and 

Whereas  the  questions  involved  in  such  controversies  affect  all 
interstate  railroads  and  their  employees ;  and 

Whereas  it  is  desirable  that  the  report  of  this  commission  and 
future  legislation,  if  any,  upon  the  questions  at  issue  between  labor, 
whether  organized  or  unorganized,  and  employers  thereof,  should  be 
based  upon  all  facts  having  any  legitimate  bearing  upon  such  ques- 
tions, and  should  be  the  result  only  of  clear  and  well-defined  public 
opinion:  Therefore, 

Resolved  (1)  That  this  commission  will  meet  at  the  United  States 
post-office  building  in  the  city  of  Chicago,  111.,  on  the  15th  day  of 
August,  1894,  at  10  a.  m.,  for  the  purpose  of  taking  testimony  in  rela- 
tion to  said  controversies,  and  to  hear  and  consider  all  facts,  sugges- 
tions, and  arguments  as  to  the  causes  thereof,  the  conditions  accompa- 
nying, and  the  best  means  of  adjiisting  the  same,  and  as  to  any  legis- 
lation or  measures  which  ought  to  be  recommended  in  regard  to  similar 
controversies  hereafter. 

(2)  That  all  railroads,  labor  organizations,  and  citizens  having  either 


CHICAGO    STRIKE.  XVII 

a  personal  or  patriotic  interest  in  tlie  right  solution  of  these  questions, 
and  who  can  not  conveniently  attend  such  public  hearing  as  aforesaid, 
are  requested  to  present  their  views  and  suggestions  in  writing  to  the 
commission  at  any  time  prior  to  the  date  of  such  public  hearing. 

(3)  That  copies  of  this  resolution  be  given  to  the  press  and  be  sent 
to  all  railroads  engaged  in  the  transportation  of  property  and  passen- 
gers between  two  or  more  States  of  the  United  States  and  to  all  labor 
organizations. 

(4)  That  all  communications  be  addressed  to  the  chairman  of  the 
United  States  Strike  Commission,  Washington,  D.  C. 

In  accordance  with  the  above  resolution  the  commission  met  at  the 
United  States  district  court  room  in  the  city  of  Chicago,  111.,  on  the 
15th  day  of  August,  1894,  when  the  chairman  made  the  following 
announcement: 

By  the  act  recited  in  the  commission  of  the  President  that  has  just 
been  read,  this  commission  is  directed  to  examine  the  causes,  contro- 
versies, and  diiBculties  existing  between  the  roads  named  and  their 
employees  at  the  time  the  commission  of  the  President  was  issued.  The 
board  is  constituted  as  a  temporary  commission  for  this  purpose,  and 
not  for  the  purpose  of  arbitrating  the  difficulties  that  existed.  It  is 
practically  a  court  of  inquiry,  and  its  proceedings  will  be  in  accordance 
with  the  usages  of  such  courts.  It  will  proceed  to  hear,  first,  all  the 
witnesses  on  behalf  of  the  employees,  and,  afterward,  those  on  behalf  of 
the  corporations  named  in  the  commission,  and  all  such  witnesses  are 
requested  to  hand  their  names  to  the  clerk  of  the  commission.  Under 
the  law  parties  may  appear  in  person  or  by  counsel,  as  they  may  see 
fit,  and  examine  and  cross-examine  witnesses. 

After  all  the  witnesses  have  given  their  testimony  the  commission 
will  then  consider  arguments  and  suggestions  to  be  made  bearing  upon 
the  questions  before  it.  All  such  suggestions  and  arguments  presented 
in  writing  will  be  filed  and  considered  by  the  commission;  but  the 
question  as  to  how  far  the  commission  will  hear  parties  who  desire  to 
be  heard  orally  will  depend  upon  the  time  left  at  the  disposal  of  the 
commission,  and  will  be  determined  after  the  testimony  is  concluded. 
This  commission,  by  the  act  creating  it,  possesses  all  the  powers  and 
authority  which  are  possessed  by  and  belong  to  United  States  commis- 
sioners appointed  by  the  circuit  courts  of  the  United  States.  The 
hours  of  sitting  of  the  commission  will  be  from  10  a.  m.  to  12,30  p.  m. 
and  from  1.30  p.  m.  to  4  p.  m.  Parties  and  their  counsel  and  witnesses 
attending  will  find  seats  within  the  rail.  The  commission  is  now  ready 
to  proceed  to  business,  and  the  marshal  will  preserve  order,  limiting 
the  attendance  to  the  comfortable  capacity  of  the  room.  The  clerk 
will  now  call  the  first  witness. 

During  the  session  of  thirteen  days  at  Chicago  the  commission  exam- 
ined 107  witnesses,  who  were  either  presented  by  the  parties  or  cited  to 
appear.  At  an  adjourned  session,  held  in  Washington,  September  26, 
2  witnesses  appeared,  making  a  total  of  109. 

At  the  first  hearing  it  developed  that  the  Pullman  employees  very 
generally  became  members  of  the  American  Eailway  Union  in  March 
and  April,  1894,  and  that  the  19  local  unions  which  they  had  formed 
had  declared  a  strike  at  Pullman;  *also  that  the  railroad  companies 
named  in  the  President's  commission  were  members  of  the  General 
Managers'  Association. 
S.  Ex.  7 U 


XVIII  CHICAGO    STRIKE. 

The  contest  was  chiefly  between  these  two  organizations,  and  hence 
nothing  relating  to  the  strike  at  PuUman  or  Chicago  that  affected 
members  of  either  organization  could  be  excluded  as  not  germane  to 
the  subject  under  investigation.  As  a  matter  of  discretion,  the  com- 
mission believed  it  wise  to  permit  the  broadest  latitude  of  inquiry, 
inasmuch  as  the  directions  to  the  commission  were  "  to  examine  the 
causes  of  and  the  conditions  accompanying  the  controversies." 

LOSSES  AND  CRIMES. 

According  to  the  testimony  the  railroads  lost  in  property  destroyed, 
hire  of  United  States  deputy  marshals,  and  other  incidental  expenses, 
at  least  $685,308.  The  loss  of  earnings  of  these  roads  is  estimated  at 
$4,672,916.  (a)  Some  3,100  employees  at  Pullman  lost  in  wages,  as  esti- 
mated, at  least  $350,000.  {b)  About  100,000  employees  upon  the  24  rail- 
roads centering  at  Chicago,  all  of  which  were  more  or  less  involved  in 
the  strike,  lost  in  wages,  as  estimated,  at  least  $1,389,143.  {a)  Many  of 
these  employees  are  still  adrift  and  losing  wages. 

Beyond  these  amounts  very  great  losses,  widely  distributed,  were 
incidentally  suffered  throughout  the  country.  The  suspension  of  trans- 
portation at  Chicago  paralyzed  a  vast  distributive  center,  and  imposed 
many  hardships  and  much  loss  upon  the  great  number  of  people 
whose  manufacturing  and  business  operations,  employment,  travel,  and 
necessary  supplies  depend  upon  and  demand  regular  transportation 
service  to,  from,  and  through  Chicago. 

During  the  strike  the  fatalities,  arrests,  indictments,  and  dismissals 
of  charges  for  strike  offenses  in  Chicago  and  vicinity  were  as  follows  {o) : 

Number  shot  and  fatally  wounded 12 

Number  arrested  by  the  police 515 

Number  arrested  under  United  States  statutes  and  against  wbom  indictments 
Avere  found 71 

Number  arrested  against  wbom  indictments  were  not  found 119 

The  arrests  made  by  the  police  were  for  murder,  arson,  burglary, 
assault,  intimidation,  riot,  inciting  to  riot,  and  lesser  crimes.  The  cases 
passed  upon  by  the  special  United  States  grand  jury,  which  convened 
on  July  10,  1894,  related  to  obstruction  of  the  mail,  forbidden  by  sec- 
tion 3995  of  the  United  States  Ee vised  Statutes;  conspiracy  to  commit 
offenses  against  the  United  States,  forbidden  by  section  5440  of  the 
Eevised  Statutes;  conspiracy  in  restraint  of  trade  or  commerce  among 
the  several  States,  forbidden  by  chapter  647  of  the  United  States,  laws 

a  Made  up  from  evidence  of  and  statements  furnished  by  the  twenty-four  com- 
panies comprising  the  General  Managers'  Association. 

6  As  to  number  of  employees,  see  testimony  of  Thomas  H.  Wickes,  page  586;  aa 
to  loss  of  wages,  see  testimony  of  George  M.  Pullman,  question  348. 

c  Made  up  from  testimony  of  Superintendent  of  Police  Brennan  and  further  data 
gathered  from  the  police  and  court  records  by  the  United  States  deputy  marshal  in 
attendance  upon  the  commission. 


CHICAGO    STRIKE.  XIX 

of  1890;  conspiracy  to  injure,  oppress,  threaten,  or  intimidate  citizens 
in  the  free  exercise  and  enjoyment  of  their  rights  and  privileges  iTnder 
the  constitution  and  laws  of  the  United  States,  forbidden  by  section 
5508  of  the  United  States  Kevised  Statutes. 

Several  indictments  were  found  against  Eugene  V.  Debs,  George  W. 
Howard,  L.  W.  Rogers,  and  Sylvester  Keliher,  officers  of  the  American 
Eailway  Union,  under  these  different  statutes.  Neither  indictments 
nor  proceedings  were  had  under  the  act  to  regulate  commerce,  approved 
February  4,  1887,  as  has  been  sometimes  stated. 

These  great  losses  and  many  crimes;  the  vast  numbers,  strength,  and 
resources  of  the  labor  that  contended  under  the  leadership  of  the  Amer- 
ican Railway  Union  upon  the  one  side  and  Pullman's  Palace  Car  Com- 
pany and  the  General  Managers'  Association  upon  the  other;  the 
attitude  of  labor  toward  capital,  disclosed  in  its  readiness  to  strike 
sympathetically;  the  determination  of  capital  to  crush  the  strike 
rather  than  to  accept  any  peaceable  solution  through  conciliation,  arbi- 
tration, or  otherwise;  (a)  the  certainty  with  which  vast  strikes  let  loose 
the  disreputable  to  burn,  plunder,  and  even  murder;  the  conversion 
of  industrious  and  law-abiding  men  into  idlers,  lawbreakers,  or  associ- 
ates of  criminals;  the  want  brought  to  many  innocent  families;  the 
transformation  of  railroad  yards,  tracks,  and  stations,  as  well  as  the 
busy  marts  of  trade,  into  armed  camj)s;  the  possibilities  of  future 
strikes  on  more  extended  lines  of  union  against  even  greater  combina- 
tions of  capital — are  all  factors  bearing  upon  the  present  industrial 
situation  which  need  to  be  thoroughly  understood  by  the  people  and  to 
be  wisely  and  prudently  treated  by  the  government. 

TROOPS,  MILITARY,  ETC  (b). 

For  the  protection  of  city,  state,  and  federal  property,  for  the  sup- 
pression of  crime  and  the  preservation  of  order,  the  city,  county.  State, 
and  federal  forces  were  utilized  as  shown  in  the  following  statement: 
From  July  3  to  July  10  the  number  of  Uuited  States  troops  sent  to  and  used 
in  Chicago  to  protect  the  United  States  mail  service  and  federal  buildings, 
and  to  sustain  the  execution  of  the  orders  of  the  United  States  courts  was.     1,  936 
Between  July  6  aud  July  11  the  State  militia  was  ordered  on  duty  at  Chicago 

and  remained  so  long  as  needed,  to  the  number  of  about 4,  000 

Extra  deputy  marshals,  about 5, 000 

Extra  deputy  sheriff's 250 

Police  force  of  Chicago 3,  000 

Total 14,186 

a  See  testimony  of  John  M.  Egan,  questions  15  to  80;  also  see  resolutions  of  Gen- 
eral Managers'  Association,  testimony  of  Everett  St.  John,  question  290. 

bAs  to  United  States  troops,  see  testimony  of  Mayor  Hopkins,  question  13,  subse- 
quently verified  at  number  given :  as  to  State  militia,  see  testimony  of  Mayor  Hop- 
kins ;  as  to  deputy  marshals,  see  testimony  of  Deputy  Marshal  Donnelly,  question  4 ; 
as  to  police  force,  see  statement  furnished  to  John  M.  Egan,  attached  to  testimony 
of  Superiutendpnt  pf  Police  Brennan,  page  358, 


XX  CHICAGO    STRIKE. 

Section  4  of  Article!  V  of  the  federal  coustitiition  reads  as  follows : 

The  United  States  shall  guarantee  to  every  state  in  this  Union  a 
republican  form  of  government,  and  shall  protect  each  of  them  against 
invasion;  and  on  application  of  the  legislature,  or  of  the  executive 
(when  the  legislature  can  not  be  convened),  against  domestic  violence. 

United  States  troops  were  not  sent  into  Illinois  upon  the  application 
of  the  legislature,  nor  of  the  executive,  against  domestic  violence;  i.  e., 
violence  affecting  the  State  and  its  government  as  such.  The  Presi- 
dent ordered  the  troops  to  Chicago — 

(1)  To  protect  federal  property. 

(2)  To  prevent  obstruction  in  the  carrying  of  the  mails. 

(3)  To  prevent  interference  with  the  interstate  commerce;  and 

(4)  To  enforce  the  decrees  and  mandates  of  the  federal  courts. 

He  did  this  under  the  authority  of  section  5298  of  the  Revised 
Statutes  of  the  United  States,  which  provides : 

Whenever,  by  reason  of  unlawful  obstructions,  combinations,  or 
assemblages  of  persons,  or  rebellion  against  the  authority  of  the  Gov- 
ernment of  the  United  States,  it  shall  become  impracticable,  in  the 
judgment  of  the  President,  to  enforce,  by  the  ordinary  course  of  judicial 
proceedings,  the  laws  of  the  United  States  within  any  State  or  Terri- 
tory, it  shall  be  lawful  for  the  President  to  call  forth  the  militia  of  any 
or  all  of  the  States,  and  to  employ  such  parts  of  the  land  or  naval 
forces  of  the  United  States  as  he  may  deem  necessary  to  enforce  the 
faithful  execution  of  the  laws  of  the  United  States,  or  to  suppress  such 
rebellion,  in  whatever  State  or  Territory  thereof  the  laws  of  the  United 
States  may  be  forcibly  opposed,  or  the  execution  thereof  forcibly 
obstructed. 

And  of  section  5299,  which  provides : 

Whenever  insurrection,  domestic  violence,  unlawful  combinations,  or 
conspiracies  in  any  State  so  obstructs  or  hinders  the  execution  of  the 
laws  thereof,  and  of  the  United  States,  as  to  deprive  any  portion  or 
class  of  the  people  of  such  State  of  any  of  the  rights,  privileges,  or 
immunities,  or  protection,  named  in  the  constitution  and  secured  by 
the  laws  for  the  protection  of  such  rights,  privileges,  or  immunities, 
and  the  constituted  authorities  of  such  State  are  unable  to  protect,  or, 
from  any  cause,  fail  in  or  refuse  protection  of  the  people  in  such  rights, 
such  facts  shall  be  deemed  a  denial  by  such  State  of  the  equal  protection 
of  the  laws  to  which  they  are  entitled  under  the  constitution  of  the 
United  States;  and  in  all  such  cases,  or  whenever  any  such  insur- 
rection, violence,  unlawful  combination,  or  conspiracy,  opposes  or 
obstructs  the  laws  of  the  United  States,  or  the  due  execution  thereof, 
or  impedes  or  obstructs  the  due  course  of  justice  under  the  same,  it 
shall  be  lawful  for  the  President,  and  it  shall  be  his  duty,  to  take 
such  measures,  by  the  employment  of  the  militia  or  the  land  and  naval 
forces  of  the  United  States,  or  of  either,  or  by  other  means,  as  he  may 
deem  necessary,  for  the  suppression  of  such  insurrection,  domestic  vio- 
lence, or  combinations. 

Other  statutes  tend  to  confer  authority  in  the  same  direction. 


CHICAGO    STRIKE.  XXI 


PULLMAN'S  PALACE  CAR  COMPANY. 

This  is  a  corporation  organized  in  1S67,  Avith  a  capital  of  $1,000,000. 
It  lias  grown  until  its  present  paid-up  capital  is  $30,000,000.  Its  pros- 
perity has  enabled  the  company  for  over  twenty  years  to  pay  2  per  cent 
quarterly  dividends,  and,  in  addition,  to  lay  up  a  surplus  of  nearly 
$25,000,000  of  undivided  profits.  From  ISof  to  1871  dividends  ranging 
from  9^  to  12  per  cent  per  annum  were  paid.  For  the  year  ending  July 
31,  1893,  the  dividends  were  $2,520,000,  and  the  wages  $7,223,719.51. 
For  the  year  ending  July  31,  1894,  the  dividends  were  $2,880,000,  and 
the  wages  $4,471, 701.39. («) 

The  business  of  the  compan}'  is — 

(1)  The  operation  of  its  cars  upon  about  125,000  miles  of  railroad, 
being  about  three-fourths  of  the  railway  mileage  of  the  country,  under 
contracts  similar  to  that  in  evidence.(&) 

(2)  The  manufacture  and  repair  of  such  cars. 

(3)  The  manufacture  of  cars  of  all  kinds  for  the  general  market. 

(4)  The  care  and  management,  as  owner  and  landlord,  of  the  town 
of  Pullman. 

In  1880  the  company  bought  500  acres  of  land,  and  upon  300  acres 
of  it  built  its  plant  and  also  a  hotel,  arcade,  churches,  athletic  grounds, 
and  brick  tenements  suitable  for  the  use  of  its  employees.  The  town 
is  well  laid  out  and  has  a  complete  sewerage  and  water  system.  It  is 
beautified  by  well-kept  open  spaces  and  stretches,  flower  beds,  and 
lakes.  The  w^hole  is  at  all  times  kept  in  neat  order  by  the  company. 
The  main  object  was  the  establishment  of  a  great  manufacturing  busi- 
ness upon  a  substantial  and  money-making  basis.  Efficient  workmen 
were  regarded  as  essential  to  its  success,  and  it  was  believed  that  they 
could  be  secured,  held  in  contentment,  and  improved  as  snch  for  their 
own  sakes  and  for  the  benefit  of  the  company  by  the  accommodations 
and  surroundings  that  were  provided. 

The  principal  church  and  its  parsonage  are  very  attractive  structures, 
but  often  are  not  occupied  because  the  rental  required  to  be  paid  is 
higher  than  any  church  society  is  willing  to  pay  to  obtain  the  gospel 
privileges  to  be  thereby  secured. (c)  In  the  arcade  is  a  tasteful  library  of 
books,  carefully  selected  and  cared  for  by  the  company.  Three  dollars 
per  year  is  charged  for  its  use,  and  as  many  as  250  persons  a  year  out 
of  from  4,000  to  5,000  employees  and  residents  have  at  times,  as  stated 
by  the  capable  librarian  in  charge,  availed  themselves  of  its  opportuni- 
ties. It  is  possible  that  the  air  of  business  strictly  maintained  there, 
as  elsewhere,  and  their  exclusion  from  any  part  in  its  management 

a  See  testimony  of  George  M.  Pullman,  questions  i,  5,  32  to  34  inclusive,  135  to 
138  inclusive,  and  216;  as  to  wages  paid,  see  "memorandumof  pay  rolls"  in  testimony 
of  George  M.  Pullman,  question  148. 

b  See  testimony  of  Thomas  H.  Wickes,  page  571. 

c  See  testimony  of  Kev.  W.  H.  Carwardine,  question  54. 


XXII 


CHICAGO    STRIKE. 


prevent  more  universal  and  grateful  acceptance  of  its  advantages  by 
employees.  Men,  as  a  rule,  even  when  employees,  prefer  independence 
to  paternalism  in  such  matters. 

The  company  provides  and  pays  a  physician  and  surgeon  by  the  year 
to  furnish  to  injured  employees  necessary  treatment  and  drugs.  It  is, 
however,  also  a  part  of  his  employment  to  secure  from  the  injured  party 
a  written  statement  as  to  the  causes  of  injury,  and  it  is  his  custom 
to  urge  the  acceptance  of  any  offered  settlement.  If  suit  follows,  the 
doctor  is  usually  a  witness  for  the  company. (a)  We  have  no  evidence 
that  the  doctor  has  ever  abused  his  confidential  relation  toward  the 
injured  employees;  but  the  system  is  admirably  conceived  from  a  busi- 
ness standpoint  to  secure  speedy  settlement  of  claims  for  damages  upon 
terms  offered  by  the  company  and  to  protect  the  company  from  litiga- 
tion and  its  results. 

Prior  to  June,  1893,  all  went  well  and  as  designed;  the  corporation 
was  very  prosjDerous,  paid  ample  and  satisfactory  wages,  as  a  rule,  and 
charged  rents  which  caused  no  complaint.  During  this  period  those 
defects  in  the  system  which  have  recently  come  to  the  surface  and 
intensified  differences,  such,  for  instance,  as  the  refusal  to  permit  the 
employees  to  buy  land  in  Pullman  and  build  homes  there,  caused  no 
disturbance. 

From  the  evidence  presented  by  the  Pullman  Loan  and  Savings 
Bank,  it  appears  that  prior  to  Julj^  1,  1893,  the  wages  paid  enabled 
prudent  employees  to  lay  by  considerable  savings.  Upon  these  the 
bank  has  paid,  uniformly  and  without  any  recent  reduction,  4  per  cent 
per  annum.    The  statement  of  the  bank  is  as  follows : 

DEPOSITS  IN  PULLMAN  LOAN  AND  SAVINGS  BANK. 


About  one-half  of  the  accounts  are  under  $100  and  five-sixths  under 
$500.  These  figures  illustrate  how  seriously  the  cutting  down  of  wages 
and  the  strike  ate  into  savings. 

As  the  result  of  the  Pullman  system  and  its  growth,  when  the  depres- 
sion of  1893  came,  morally  calling  for  mutual  concessions  as  to  wages, 
rents,  etc.,  we  find  on  the  one  side  a  very  wealthy  and  unyielding  corpo- 


a  See  testimony  of  Dr.  John  McLean,  generally;  but  more  especially  from  question 
59  to  the  end. 


CHICAGO    STRIKE.  XXIIl 

ration,  and  upon  the  other  a  multitnde  of  employees  of  comparatively 
excellent  character  and  skill,  but  without  local  attachments  or  any  inter- 
ested responsibility  in  the  town,  its  business,  tenements,  or  surroundings. 
The  conditions  created  at  Pullman  enable  the  management  at  all 
times  to  assert  with  great  vigor  its  assumed  right  to  fix  wages  and  rents  {a) 
absolutely,  and  to  repress  that  sort  of  independence  Avhich  leads  to  labor 
organizations  and  their  attempts  at  mediation,  arbitration,  strikes,  etc. 

THE  AMERICAN  RAILWAY  UNION. 

This  is  an  association  of  about  150,000  railroad  employees,  as  alleged, 
organized  at  Chicago  on  the  20th  of  June,  1893,  for  the  purpose  of 
including  railway  emjjloyees  born  of  white  parents  in  one  great  brother- 
hood. 

The  theory  underlying  this  movement  is  that  the  organization  of  dif- 
ferent classes  of  railroad  employees  (to  the  number  of  about  140,000) 
upon  the  trade-union  idea  has  ceased  to  be  useful  or  adequate;  that 
pride  of  organization,  petty  jealousies,  and  the  conflict  of  views  into 
which  men  are  trained  in  separate  organizations  under  different  lead- 
ers, tend  to  defeat  the  common  object  of  all,  and  enable  railroads  to  use 
such  organizations  against  each  other  in  contentions  over  wages,  etc. ; 
that  the  rapid  concentration  of  railroad  capital  and  management 
demands  a  like  union  of  their  employees  for  the  purpose  of  mutual  pro- 
tection; that  the  interests  of  each  of  the  850,000  {b)  and  over  railroad 
employees  of  the  United  States  as  to  wages,  treatment,  hours  of  labor, 
legislation,  insurance,  mutual  aid,  etc.,  are  common  to  all,  and  hence  all 
ought  to  belong  to  one  organization  that  shall  assert  its  united  strength 
in  the  protection  of  the  rights  of  every  member. 

The  American  Federation  of  Labor,  composed  of  affiliated  unions, 
with  a  membership  of  over  500,000,  also  tends  in  the  direction  of 
broader  union  for  labor.  The  order  of  the  Knights  of  Labor,  with  an 
estimated  membership  of  from  150,000  to  175,000,  has  always  advocated 
the  solidarity  of  labor. 

In  the  American  Eailway  Union  there  are  departments  of  literature 
and  education,  legislation,  cooperation,  mediation,  insurance,  etc.  The 
organization  consists  of  a  general  union  and  of  local  unions.  The  gen- 
eral union  is  formed  by  representatives  of  local  unions,  who  elect  a 
board  of  nine  directors  quadrennially.  This  board  has  authority  to 
"issue  such  orders  and  adopt  such  measures  as  may  be  required  to 
carry  out  the  objects  of  the  order."  Any  ten  white  persons  employed 
in  railway  service,  except  superintendents,  etc.,  can  organize  a  local 

a  See  testimony  of  Thomas  H.  Wickes  quoted  on  pages  xxv  aud  xxvi ;  also,  near 
close  of  his  testimony,  as  to  rentals;  see  also  pamphlet  of  George  M.  Pullman  intro- 
duced in  evidence  by  Mr.  Wickes. 

&  These  figures  were  obtained  from  the  last  statistical  report  of  the  United  States 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission.  Witness  George  W.  Howard  fixes  figures  at 
upwards  of  1,000,000,  but  he  includes  other  territory  than  the  United  States. 


XXIV  CHICAGO    STRIKE. 

uniou.     Each  local  union  has  its  board  of  mediation,  and  the  chairmen 
of  the  various  local  boards  upon  a  system  of  railroads  constitute  a 
general  board  of  mediation  for  that  system. 
The  constitution  provides  that — 

All  complaints  and  adjustments  must  be  first  taken  up  by  the  local 
union ;  if  accepted  by  a  majority  vote,  it  shall  be  referred  to  the  lociil 
board  of  mediation  for  adjustment,  and,  if  failing,  the  case  shall  be 
submitted  to  the  chairman  of  the  general  board  of  mediation,  failing 
in  which,  they  shall  notify  the  president  of  the  general  union,  who  shall 
authorize  the  most  available  member  of  the  beard  of  directors  to  visit 
and  meet  with  the  general  chairman  of  the  board  of  mediation  and 
issue  such  instructions  as  will  be  promulgated  by  the  directors. 

Under  these  provisions  it  is  claimed  that  no  strike  can  be  declared 
except  by  order  of  a  majority  of  the  men  involved.  This  is  a  com- 
mendable feature  of  the  union.  So  long  as  strikes  are  resorted  to,  the 
power  to  order  them  should  never  be  vested  anywhere  except  in  a 
majority  of  the  employees  concerned.  If  a  two-thirds  or  three-quarters 
vote  were  required  it  would  be  still  better.  After  a  strike  is  ordered 
the  board  of  directors  of  the  general  union  practically  directs  its  con- 
duct. 

In  its  profession  of  principles  and  purposes  in  its  general  and  local 
constitutions  the  American  Eailway  Fuion  proposes  to  protect  and 
promote  the  interests  of  its  members  as  wage  earners  through  organi- 
zation and  legitimate  cooperation.     Its  constitution  reads : 

First.  The  protection  of  all  members  in  all  matters  relating  to  wages 
and  their  rights  as  employees  is  the  principal  purpose  of  the  organiza- 
tion. Eailway  employees  are  entitled  to  a  voice  in  fixing  wages  and  in 
determining  conditions  of  employment.  Fair  wages  and  proper  treat- 
ment must  be  the  return  for  efficient  service,  faithfully  performed. 
Such  a  policy  insures  harmonious  relations  and  satisfactory  results. 
The  order,  while  pledged  to  conservative  methods,  will  protect  the 
humblest  of  its  members  in  every  right  he  can  justly  claim;  but  while 
the  rights  of  members  will  be  sacredly  guarded,  no  intemperate  demand 
or  unreasonable  propositions  will  be  entertained.  Corporations  will 
not  be  permitted  to  treat  the  organization  better  than  the  organization 
will  treat  them.  A  high  sense  of  honor  must  be  the  animating  spirit, 
and  evenhanded  justice  the  end  sought  to  be  obtained.  Thoroughly 
organized  in  every  department,  with  a  due  regard  for  the  right  wherever 
found,  it  is  confidently  believed  that  all  differences  may  be  satisfac- 
torily adjusted,  that  harmonious  relations  may  be  established  and  main- 
tained, that  the  service  may  be  incalculably  improved,  and  that  the 
necessity  for  strike  and  lockout,  boycott  and  blacklist,  alike  disastrous 
to  emx)loyer  and  employee  and  a  perpetual  menace  to  the  welfare  of  the 
public,  will  forever  disappear. 

It  is  encouraging  to  find  that  public  opinion  and  a  regard  for  their 
own  best  interests  now  demand  from  labor  organizations  such  a  plain 
recognition  of  conservative  principles  as  the  foregoing.  The  great 
inherent  weakness  of  such  organizations  at  present  is  that  in  conten- 
tions with  emploj^ers  these  j)rinciples  are  forgotten  and  that  strikes  are 
often  ordered  in  hasty  and  disorderly  ways,  and  are  frequently  con- 


CHICAGO    STRIKE.  XXV 

ducted  with  attendant  violence  and  lawlessness.  As  an  instance,  it 
appears  from  the  evidence  that  the  strike  on  the  Rock  Island  road  was 
ordered  at  a  meeting  at  Blue  Island,  attended  by  both  railroad  employees 
and  by  persons  not  in  the  employ  of  the  road,  and  that  a  rising  vote 
was  taken  without  confining  it  to  employees,  and  that  amidst  confusion 
and  uncertainty  as  to  what  the  vote  was  or  who  the  voters  were,  a 
strike  ui)on  a  great  railroad  system  was  inaugurated. 

A  recognition  of  the  principle  that  under  this  Government  wrongs 
must  be  corrected  in  lawful  and  orderly  ways  is  absolutely  indispen- 
sable 5  a  practical  denial  of  this  principle  in  the  conflicts  incident  to 
strikes  woald  be  fatal  to  both  business  and  society  and  is  unendurable 
under  any  government.  Wage  earners  can  not  deny  that  this  would 
be  equally  true  were  this  Government  one  entirely  "of  labor,  by  labor, 
and  for  labor." 

The  omission  of  a  direct  provision  in  the  constitution  of  the  Ameri- 
can Railway  Union  for  the  punishment  or  disqualification  of  a  member 
who  commits  or  instigates  violence  toward  persons  or  projDerty  in  strikes 
is  a  usual  and  a  grievous  omission,  and  deserves  severe  condemnation. 
Until  labor  organizations  take  hold  of  this  question  vigorously  and 
control  their  own  members  effectually  they  are  certain  to  lose  sympa- 
thy in  their  contentions  and  to  be  defeated,  even  though  their  cause  be 
just  and  deserve  success. 

In  March,  1894,  the  employees  of  Pullman's  Palace  Car  Company, 
being  dissatisfied  with  their  wages,  rents,  and  shop  treatment  for  the 
first  time  in  the  history  of  the  town,  sought  organization,  and  joined 
the  American  Railway  Union  in  large  numbers,  {a)  Their  meetings  were 
held  outside  of  Pullman,  because  the  town  has  no  facilities  for  such 
purposes.  (6) 

The  PuUman  company  is  hostile  to  the  idea  of  conferring  with  organ- 
ized labor  in  the  settlement  of  differences  arising  between  it  and  its 
employees.  The  position  of  the  company  in  this  respect  is  clearly  stated 
in  the  testimony  of  Mr.  Wickes,  its  second  vice-president,  which  is  here 
cited : 

Q.  222.  Has  the  company  had  anj^  policy  with  reference  to  labor 
unions  among  its  help? — Ans.  'So;  we  have  never  objected  to  unions 
except  in  one  instance.  I  presume  that  there  are  quite  a  number  of 
unions  in  our  shops  now. 

Q.  223.  What  are  they  !— Ans.  I  couldn't  tell  you,  but  I  have  heard  of 
some  of  them.  1  suppose  the  cabinetmakers  have  a  union,  and  I  sup- 
pose the  car  builders  have  a  union,  and  the  carvers,  and  the  painters, 
and  other  classes  of  men.     We  do  not  inquire  into  that  at  all. 

Q.  224.  That  is,  unions  among  themselvesin  the  works'? — Ans.  Mem- 
bers of  the  craft,  belonging  to  other  unions;  that  is,  the  cabinet  union 
might  have  its  headquarters  in  Chicago  and  our  men  would  be  mem- 
bers of  it;  but  we  did  not  object  to  anything  of  that  kind. 

a  See  testimony  of  ThomasW,  Heathcoate,  question  3;  also  page  432. 
6  See  above  reference;  also  testimony  of  Thomas  H.  Wickes,  questions  230  to  234, 
quoted  on  page  xxvi. 


XXVI  CHICAGO    STRIKE. 

Q.  225.  The  only  objection  you  ever  made  was  to  the  American  Eail- 
■way  Union,  wasn't  it"? — Ans.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  226.  What  is  the  basis  of  your  objection  to  that  union? — Ans.  Our 
objection  to  that  was  that  we  would  not  treat  with  our  men  as  mem- 
bers of  the  American  Eailway  Union,  and  we  would  not  treat  with 
them  as  members  of  any  union.  We  treat  with  them  as  individuals 
and  as  men. 

Q.  227.  That  is,  each  man  as  an  individual,  do  you  mean  that? — 
Ans.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  228.  Don't  you  think,  Mr.  Wickes,  that  it  would  give  the  corpora- 
tion a  very  great  advantage  over  those  men  if  it  could  take  them  up 
one  at  a  time  and  discuss  the  question  with  him?  With  the  ability  that 
you  have  got,  for  instance,  where  do  you  think  the  man  would  stand 
in  such  a  discussion? — Ans.  The  man  has  got  probably  more  ability 
than  I  have. 

Q.  229.  You  think  that  it  would  be  fair  to  your  men  for  each  one  of 
them  to  come  before  you  and  take  up  tlie  question  of  his  grievances  and 
attempt  to  maintain  his  end  of  the  discussion,  do  you  ? — Ans.  I  think  so ; 
yes.     If  he  is  not  able  to  do  that,  that  is  his  misfortune. 

Q.  230.  Don't  you  think  that  the  fact  that  you  represent  a  vast  con- 
centration of  capital,  and  are  selected  for  that  because  of  your  ability 
to  represent  it,  entitles  him,  if  he  pleases,  to  unite  with  all  of  the  men  of 
his  craft  and  select  the  ablest  one  they  have  got  to  represent  the  cause? — 
Ans.  As  a  union? 

Q.  231.  As  a  union. — Ans.  They  have  the  right;  yes,  sir.  We  have 
the  right  to  say  whether  we  will'receive  them  or  not. 

Q.  232.  Do  you  think  you  have  any  right  to  refuse  to  recognize  that 
riglit  in  treating  with  the  men? — Ans.  Yes,  sir;  if  we  chose  to. 

Q.  233.  If  you  cliose  to.    Is  it  your  policy  to  do  that? — Ans.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  234.  Then  you  think  that  you  have  the  right  to  refuse  to  recognize 
a  union  of  the  men  designed  for  the  purpose  of  presenting,  through  the 
ablest  of  tlieir  members,  to  your  company  the  grievances  which  all  com- 
plain of  or  which  any  complain  of  ? — Ans.  That  is  the  policy  of  the  com- 
pany; yes,  sir.  If  we  were  to  receive  these  men  as  representatives  of 
the  unions  they  could  probably  force  us  to  pay  any  wages  which  they 
saw  fit,  and  get  the  Pullman  company  in  the  same  shape  that  some 
of  the  railroads  are  by  making  concessions  which  ought  not  to  be 
made. 

Q.  235.  Don't  you  think  that  the  opposite  policy,  to  wit,  that  all 
your  dealings  with  the  men,  as  individuals,  in  case  you  were  one  who 
sought  to  abuse  your  power,  might  enable  you  to  pay  to  the  men,  on 
the  other  hand,  just  what  you  saw  fit? — Ans.  Well,  of  course  a  man  in 
an  official  position,  if  he  is  arbitrary  and  unfair,  could  work  a  great 
deal  of  injustice  to  the  men;  no  doubt  about  that.  But  then  it  is  a 
man's  privilege  to  go  to  work  somewhere  else. 

Q.  236.  Don't  you  recognize  as  to  many  men,  after  they  have  become 
settled  in  a  place  at  work  of  that  kind,  that  really  that  privilege  does 
not  amount  to  much? — Ans.  We  find  that  the  best  men  usually  come  to 
the  front;  the  best  of  our  men  don't  give  us  any  trouble  with  unions 
or  anything  else.  It  is  only  the  inferior  men — that  is,  the  least  compe- 
tent—that give  us  the  trouble  as  a  general  thing. 

Since  the  strike,  withdrawal  from  the  American  Eailway  Union  is 
required  from  those  seeking  work,  (a)    The  company  does  not  recognize 

a  See  testimony  of  George  M.  Pullman,  question  319. 


CHICAGO    STRIKE.  XXVII 

that  labor  organizations  have  any  place  or  necessity  in  Pullman,  where 
the  company  fixes  wages  and  rents,  and  refuses  to  treat  with  labor 
organizations.  The  laborer  can  work  or  quit  on  the  terms  offered; 
that  is  the  limit  of  his  rights.  To  join  a  labor  organization  in  order  to 
secure  the  protection  of  union  against  wrongs,  real  or  imaginary,  is 
overstepping  the  limit  and  arouses  hostility.  This  position  secures  all 
the  advantage  of  the  concentration  of  capital,  ability,  power,  and  con- 
trol for  the  company  in  its  labor  dealings,  and  deprives  the  employees 
of  any  such  advantage  or  protection  as  a  labor  union  might  afford. 
In  this  respect  the  Pullman  company  is  behind  the  age. 

To  admit  the  Pullman  shop  employees,  however,  into  the  American 
Eailway  Union  as  "persons  employed  in  railway  service"  was  not  wise 
or  expedient.  The  constitution  can  not  fairly  be  construed  to  include 
as  eligible  members  those  who  build  cars  and  run  them  in  and  out 
over  private  switches.  Such  loose  construction  of  a  labor  constitution 
is  certain  to  involve  any  organization  in  such  an  infinite  variety 
of  conflicting  positions  and  to  force  it  into  so  many  contests  demanding 
different  and  perhaps  apparently  inconsistent  treatment  at  the  same 
time  as  to  curtail  its  usefulness  and  threaten  its  existence.  To  reach 
out  and  take  in  those  so  alien  to  its  natural  membership  as  the  Pullman 
employees,  was,  in  the  inception  of  the  organization  at  least,  a  mistake. 
This  mistake  led  the  union  into  a  strike  purely  sympathetic  and  aided 
to  bring  upon  it  a  crushing  and  demoralizing  defeat. 

It  is  undoubtedly  true  that  the  officers  and  directors  of  the  Ameri- 
can Eailway  Union  did  not  want  a  strike '  at  Pullman,  and  that  they 
advised  against  it, (a)  but  the  exaggerated  idea  of  the  power  of  the 
union,  which  induced  the  workmen  at  Pullman  to  join  the  order,  led 
to  their  striking  against  this  advice.  Having  struck,  the  union  could 
do  nothing  less,  upon  the  theory  at  its  base,  than  support  them. 

The  union  was  as  yet  young;  its  membership  was  not  as  extensive 
as  it  hoped  to  obtain;  its  workings  had  the  roughness  of  incipient 
effort  in  a  new  direction;  it  had  recently  attained  some  success  in  a 
strike  upon  the  "  Great  Korthern,"  and  had  thus  aroused  extravagant 
expectations  among  its  members  generally;  great  business  depression 
prevailed;  large  numbers  were  idle  and  stood  ready  to  accept  almost 
any  offer  of  work.  For  these  reasons  the  ofiicers  and  directors  of  the 
union  knew  that  the  times  were  inopportune  for  striking  and  did  not 
advocate  it. 

A  union  embracing  all  railroad  employees,  even,  is  as  yet  a  doubtful 
experiment.  Such  a  union  will  have  great  dififlculty  in  moulding  itself 
to  the  complex  character,  nationalities,  habits,  employments,  and 
requirements  of  its  vast  and  varied  membership. 

The  trade  unionists  argue  that  their  strength  lies  largely  in  their 

a  See  testimony  of  George  W.  Howard,  questions  21  and  22;  testimony  of  Frank 
T.  McDonald,  latter  part  of  question  5  and  question  6;  testimony  of  Eugene  V.  Debs, 
questions  8  and  22, 


XXVIII  CHICAGO    STRIKE. 

comparative  freedom  from  these  objections;  and  they  insist  that  the 
basis  of  the  membership  of  a  successful  labor  organization  must  be 
substantial  similarity  in  interests  among  the  members.  Trades  unions 
have  a  record  of  success  both  here  and  abroad,  especially  in  England, 
which  largely  sustains  their  position.  They  have  promoted  concilia- 
tion, arbitration,  conservatism,  and  resijonsibility  in  labor  contentions 
and  agreements. 

To  preserve  the  integrity  of  associations  designed  to  unite  and  organ- 
ize labor  on  such  a  broad  basis  as  that  of  the  American  Eailway 
Union  but  two  courses  seem  open : 

(1)  To  take  a  position  against  all  strikes,  except  as  a  last  resort  for 
unbearable  grievances,  and  to  seek  the  more  rational  methods  of  con- 
cihation  and  arbitration.  To  this  object  the  power  of  public  opinion 
would  lend  aid  to  an  extent  not  now  api)reciated. 

(2)  Conservative  leadership,  legal  status,  and  the  education  of  mem- 
bers in  governmental  matters,  with  the  principle  in  view  that  in  this 
country  nothing  can  accomplish  permanent  protection  and  final  redress 
of  wrongs  for  labor  as  an  entirety  except  conservative  progress, lawful 
conduct,  and  wise  laws  enacted  and  sustained  by  the  public  opinion  of 
its  rulers — the  people. 

THE  GENERAL  MANAGERS'  ASSOCIATION. 

This  voluntary,  unincorporated  association  was  formed  in  1886,  and  has 
as  members  the  24  railroads  centering  or  terminating  in  Chicago.  The 
following  facts  relating  to  these  roads  for  the  year  ending  June  30, 
1894,  have  been  furnished  by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission : 

Number  of  miles  operated a  40,  933 

Number  of  stockholders ft  52,  088 

Capitalization : 

Capital  stock a  $818,  569,  004 

Poinded  debt a$l,  210,  235, 702 

Current  liabilities a  $79,  747,  911 

Total a  $2, 108,  552,  617 

Gross  earnings c  $325,  825,  726 

Net  earnings c  $102,  710,  917 

Number  of  employees d  221,  097 

a  Data  for  the  Union  Stock  Yard  and  Transit  Company  are  from  Poor's  Manual  of 
Railroads,  1894. 

&Not  including  the  Union  Stock  Yard  and  Transit  Company  and  the  Chicago  and 
Northern  Pacific  Railway. 

c  Data  for  the  Union  Stock  Yard  and  Transit  Company  and  the  Pittsburg,  Fort 
Wayne  and  Chicago  Railway  are  from  Poor's  Manual  of  Railroads,  1894.  Those  for 
the  Pittsburg,  Fort  Wayne  and  Chicago  Railway  are  for  the  year  ending  December 
31,1893. 

d  Not  including  the  Union  Stock  Yard  and  Transit  Company,  the  Chicago  and 
Northern  Pacific  Railway,  and  (except  general  officers)  the  Pittsburg,  Fort  Wayne 
and  Chicago  Railway. 


CHICAGO    STRIKE.  XXIX 

In  its  constitution  the  object  of  the  association  is  stated  to  be  "  the 
consideration  of  problems  of  management  arising  from  the  operation 
of  railroads  terminating  or  centering  at  Chicago."  It  further  provides 
that  "all  funds  needed  shall  be  raised  by  assessments  divided  equally 
amoug  the  members."  There  are  no  limitations  as  to  "  consideration 
of  problems"  or  "funds"  except  the  will  of  the  managers  and  the 
resources  of  the  railroad  corporations. 

Prior  to  the  recent  strike  the  association  was  chiefly  concerned  with 
matters  other  than  wages.  It  dealt  with  all  questions  concerning  trans- 
portation centering  at  Chicago  in  which  the  roads  had  a  common  inter- 
est. It  thus  determined  the  policy  and  practically  fixed  the  relations 
of  all  of  the  roads  toward  the  public  as  to  switching,  car  service,  load- 
ing and  unloading  cars,  weights  of  live  stock,  rates,  etc,  and  sustained 
each  road  in  maintaining  the  position  of  the  association  as  to  these 
matters,  (a) 

Until  June,  1894,  the  association  dealt  incidentally  and  infrequently 
with  wages.  There  were  few  railroad  controversies  as  to  wages  during 
its  active  life,  dating  from  January  20, 1892.  (&)  Hence  its  possibilities 
as  a  strike  fighter  and  wage  arbiter  lay  rather  dormant.  The  following 
are  instances  of  its  action  as  to  wage  questions.  Its  roads  fixed  a 
"Chicago  scale"  for  switchmen,  covering  all  lines  at  Chicago.  In 
March,  1893,  the  switchmen  demanded  more  pay  from  each  road.  The 
association  concluded  that  they  were  paid  enough — if  anything,  too 
much.  The  roads  so  informed  the  men.  The  Switchmen's  Mutual  Aid 
Association  of  North  America  wrote  to  Mr.  St.  John,  as  chairman, 
acquiescing.  He,  as  chairman  of  the  General  Managers'  Association, 
concluded  his  reply  as  follows : 

The  association  approves  the  course  taken  by  your  body  and  desires 
to  deal  fairly  with  all  employees  and  believes  that  our  sicitchmen  are 
receiving  due  consideration. 

This  seems  to  show  that  employees  upon  association  roads  are  treated 
as  under  subjection  to  the  General  Managers'  Association.  Mr.  St. 
John,  the  president  of  the  association,  testifies  as  follows: 

The  result  of  this  declination  on  the  part  of  the  various  companies 
directly  to  their  own  committees  was  a  threat  on  the  part  of  some  that 
a  strike  would  occur,  and  in  times  of  trouble  of  tbat  kind,  or  antici- 
pated trouble,  it  would  be  the  most  natural  thing  in  the  world  for  the 
association,  or  any  line  member  of  it,  to  arrange  to  protect  the  interests 
of  the  company  he  represented.  He  could  not  do  otherwise.  Arrange- 
ments were  made  by  which  agencies  were  established  and  men  employed 
to  come  to  Chicago  in  case  of  necessity. 

Q.  256.  Were  those  agencies  established  by  the  Managers'  Associa- 
tion?— Ans.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  257.  And  they  were  designed  for  the  purpose  of  protecting  any 
line  in  the  association? — Ans.  That  was  a  member  of  it. 

a  See  testimony  of  Everett  St.  Jolin,  pages  242  and  243. 
i  See  testimony  of  Everett  St.  John,  pages  244  and  245, 


XXX  CHICAGO    STRIKE. 

Q.  258.  Against  anything  tliey  deemed  to  be  an  attempt  to  enforce  an 
unjust  demand? — Ans.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  259.  Was  that  the  first  occasion  the  managers  ever  took  action  in 
that  direction? — Ans.  That  was  the  first  occasion  it  took  action  during 
any  period  I  was  chairman  of  it. 

This  was  the  first  time  when  men  upon  each  line  were  brought  sharply 
face  to  face  with  the  fact  that  in  questions  as  to  wages,  rules,  etc., 
each  line  was  supported  by  24  combined  railroads.  On  several  other 
occasions  similar  action  was  taken;  for  instance,  when  some  baggage 
agents  of  the  Lake  Shore  and  Michigan  Southern  Railway  wanted 
higher  wages,  a  committee  of  the  association  disposed  of  the  matter. 
Mr.  St.  John  was  asked : 

Q.  286.  Why  was  not  that  application  disposed  of  by  the  Lake  Shore 
road  instead  of  by  the  General  Managers'  Association? — Ans.  In  order 
that  it  might  receive  the  attention  due  to  the  application,  and  so  the 
pay  of  other  roads  could  be  determined,  and  see  if  we  were  under- 
paying them.  There  has  been  quite  a  number  of  cases  where  the  prayer 
of  tlie  petition  has  been  granted  by  this  committee,  and  quite  a  number 
where  it  has  been  declined,  but  only  after  the  most  careful  investigation. 

This  answer  is  ingenious  and  suggestive. 

This  association  likewise  prepared  for  its  use  elaborate  schedules  of 
the  wages  paid  upon  the  entire  lines  of  its  24  members.  The  proposed 
object  of  these  schedules  was  to  let  each  road  know  what  other  roads 
paid.  Finding  that  the  men  upon  some  lines  urged  increase  to  corre- 
spond with  wages  paid  elsewhere,  a  committee  of  the  association  pre- 
pared and  presented  a  uniform  schedule  for  all  membership  roads.  It 
was  deemed  wise  not  to  act  upon  the  report.  It  was  distributed  to 
members  in  November,  1893.  This  distribution  alone  enabled  the 
report  to  be  used  with  efficiency  as  an  '^equalizer."  As  the  result, 
during  1893 — it  being  then  well  understood  that  as  to  wages,  etc.,  it 
was  an  incident  of  the  General  Managers'  Association  to  "assist"  each 
road  in  case  of  trouble  over  such  matters,  one  form  of  assistance  being 
for  the  association  to  secure  men  enough  through  its  agencies  to  take 
the  jjlaces  of  all  strikers  (a) — reductions  were  here  and  there  made  on 
the  different  roads,  the  tendency  and  effort  apparently  being  to  equalize 
the  pay  on  all  lines. 

It  is  admitted  that  the  action  of  the  association  has  great  weight 
with  outside  lines,  and  thus  tends  to  establish  one  uniform  scale 
throughout  the  country.  (6)  The  further  single  step  of  admitting  lines 
not  running  into  Chicago  to  membership  would  certainly  have  the 
effect  of  combining  aU  railroads  in  wage  contentions  against  all 
employees  thereon. 

The  commission  questions  whether  any  legal  authority,  statutory  or 
otherwise,  can  be  found  to  justify  some  of  the  features  of  the  associa 

a  See  testimony  of  Eugene  V.  Debs,  pages  132  and  133 ;  testimony  of  Everett  St. 
John,  quoted  on  pages  xxix  and  xxx ;  testimony  of  John  M.  Egan,  question  4. 
i  See  testimony  of  Everett  St.  John,  question  280. 


CHICAGO    STRIKE.  XXXI 

tion  which  have  come  to  light  in  this  investigation.  If  we  regard  its 
practical  workings  rather  than  its  professions  as  expressed  in  its  con- 
stitution, the  General  Managers'  Association  has  no  more  standing  in 
law  than  the  old  Trunk  Line  Pool.  It  can  not  incorporate,  because  rail- 
road charters  do  not  authorize  roads  to  form  corporations  or  associa- 
tions to  fix  rates  for  services  and  wages,  nor  to  force  their  acceptance, 
nor  to  battle  with  strikers.  It  is  a  usurpation  of  power  not  granted. 
If  such  an  association  is  necessary  from  a  business  or  economic  stand- 
point, the  right  to  form  and  maintain  it  must  come  from  the  State  that 
granted  its  charter.  In  theory,  corporations  are  limited  to  the  powers 
granted  either  directly  or  by  clear  inference.  We  do  not  think  the 
power  has  been  granted  in  either  way  in  this  case. 

The  association  is  an  illustration  of  the  persistent  and  shrewdly 
devised  plans  of  corporations  to  overreach  their  limitations  and  to 
usurp  indirectly  powers  and  rights  not  contemplated  in  their  charters 
and  not  obtainable  from  the  people  or  their  legislators.  An  extension  of 
this  association,  as  above  suggested,  and  the  proposed  legalization  of 
"  pooling  "  would  result  in  an  aggregation  of  power  and  capital  dan- 
gerous to  the  people  and  their  liberties  as  well  as  to  employees  and  their 
rights.  The  question  would  then  certainly  arise  as  to  which  shall  con- 
trol, the  Government  or  the  railroads,  and  the  end  would  inevitably 
be  Government  ownership.  Unless  ready  for  that  result  and  all  that 
it  implies,  the  Government  must  restrain  corporations  within  the  law, 
and  jjrevent  them  from  forming  unlawful  and  dangerous  combinations. 
At  least,  so  long  as  railroads  are  thus  permitted  to  combine  to  fix 
wages  and  for  their  joint  protection,  it  would  be  rank  injustice  to  deny 
the  right  of  all  labor  upon  railroads  to  unite  for  similar  purposes. 

It  should  be  noted  that  until  the  railroads  set  the  example  a  general 
union  of  railroad  employees  was  never  attempted,  (a)  The  unions  had 
not  gone  beyond  enlisting  the  men  upon  different  systems  in  separate 
trade  organizatious.(&)  These  neutralize  and  check  each  other  to  some 
extent  and  have  no  such  scope  or  capacity  for  good  or  evil  as  is  possi- 
ble under  the  imiversal  combination  idea  inaugurated  by  the  railroads 
and  followed  by  the  American  Eailway  Union.  The  refusal  of  the 
General  Managers'  Association  to  recognize  and  deal  with  such  a  com- 
bination of  labor  as  the  American  Eailway  Union  seems  arrogant  and 
absurd  when  we  consider  its  standing  before  the  law,  its  assumptions, 
and  its  past  and  obviously  contemplated  future  action. 

a  See  testimony  of  Eugene  V.  Debs,  pages  132  and  133;  testimony  of  Everett 
St.  John,  question  228 ;  testimony  of  George  W.  Howard,  question  49. 

b  See  testimony  of  George  W.  Howard,  pages  12  to  14 ;  see  also  constitution  of 
American  Railway  Union,  published  in  connection  witb  testimony  of  George  W. 
Howard,  and  such  portions  of  constitution  of  the  Knights  of  Labor  as  are  published 
in  connection  with  the  testimony  of  James  E.  Sovereign;  see  also  testimony  of 
Everett  St-  John,  question  91. 


XXXII  CHICAGO    STRIKE. 

THE  PULLMAN  STRIKE :   ITS  CAUSES  AND  EVENTS. 

Pullman's  Palace  Car  Company  is  in  the  market  at  all  times  to 
obtain  all  possible  contracts  to  build  cars.  Its  relations  with  railroads, 
its  large  capital  and  surplus,  its  complete  and  well-located  plant  and 
efficient  management  enable  it  at  all  times  to  meet  all  competitors  on 
at  least  equal  terms.  Prior  to  the  business  depression  of  1893,  the* 
company  was  unusually  active  in  building  new  cars  for  itself  and  for 
railroads  to  meet  the  expanded  demands  of  general  business,  and  for 
the  expected  requirements  of  the  Columbian  Exposition  traffic.  Its 
repair  department  was  also  full  of  work.  An  average  number  of  4,497 
workmen,  during  the  year  ending  July  1, 1893,  earned  $2,7(30,548.99,  or 
an  average  of  IG13.S6  each.  The  wages  paid  were  about  the  same  as 
paid  elsewhere  in  the  business,  Mr.  Wickes  thinks  possibly  a  little 
higher. 

The  depression  of  1893  naturally  affected  the  business  at  once,  and 
to  a  greater  extent  in  some  departments  than  in  others.  Matters  grew 
worse  until,  in  the  fall  of  1893,  the  company  closed  its  Detroit  shops, 
employing  about  800,  and  concentrated  its  contract  and  repair  business 
at  Pullman.  The  company  and  the  railroads  had  a  surplus  of  cars  for 
the  decreased  traffic  obtainable,  and  hence  pending  orders  were  can- 
celed and  car  building  stopped,  except  as  occasional  straggling  con- 
tracts were  obtained  at  prices  which  averaged  less  than  shop  cost, 
exclusive  of  interest  upon  capital  or  any  charge  for  depreciation  of 
plant  or  machinery. 

WAGES. 

From  September  18,  1893,  until  May  1,  1894,  the  company  did  con- 
tract work  at  the  price  of  $1,421,205.75,  which  was  $52,069.03,  or  3.663 
per  cent  below  shop  cost  for  labor  and  materials. (a)  Against  this  the 
loss  to  labor  by  the  reduction  of  wages  paid  on  this  work  was  over 
$60,000,  making  the  wages  of  June,  1893,  the  basis  of  comparison.  (6) 
It  also  had  $1,354,276.06  of  unaccepted  bids,  upon  which  its  similar 
loss  would  have  been  $18,303.56,  or  1.35  per  cent,  (a)  Assuming  that 
the  analysis  submitted  as  to  the  cost  of  several  lots  of  cars  affords  a 
fair  basis  for  averaging  the  whole  of  the  contracts,  it  appears  that  the 
average  percentage  of  cost  of  material  in  this  contract  work  was  about 
75  per  cent.  Hence  while  the  amount  of  loss  was  nearly  equally 
divided,  it  seems  that  the  percentage  of  loss  borne  by  labor  in  the 
reduction  of  wages  was  much  greater  than  that  sustained  by  the  com- 
pany upon  material.  Three-quarters  of  the  loss  for  the  company  and 
the  balance  for  labor  would  have  more  fairly  equalized  the  division  of 
loss  on  these  contracts. 

a  See  testimony  of  Thomas  H.  Wickes,  page  577. 

i  See  testiuiouy  of  Thomas  H.  Wickes,  questions  45  and  46. 


CHICAGO    STRIKE.  XXXIII 

Some  justification  for  the  determinatiou  of  the  company  as  to  the 
division  of  loss  is  claimed  from  the  fact  that  in  addition  to  its  loss  the 
company  received  no  interest  upon  its  capital,  etc.  On  the  other  hand, 
it  is  an  economic  principle  generally  recognized  that  the  shutting  down 
of  such  a  plant  and  the  scattering  of  its  forces  usually  result  in  a 
greater  loss  than  that  exhibited  here  by  the  continuance  of  business. 
The  Pullman  company  could  hardly  shut  down  for  seven  and  a  half 
months  at  a  cost  and  loss  of  less  than  1  per  cent  upon  its  capital  and 
surplus.  To  continue  running  was  for  its  obvious  and  unfair  advan- 
tage so  long  as  it  could  divide  losses  equally  with  its  labor. 

The  cut  in  wages  during  this  period  averaged  about  25  per  cent  and 
was  reached  in  two  ways  (a) — 

First,  by  reducing  the  price  paid  for  piecework,  upon  which  2,800 
men  are  normally  employed.  This  price  is  claimed  to  be  based  upon 
what  a  competent  workman  can  do  in  a  day.  By  testing  the  men  the 
prices  are  thus  fixed  so  that  a  man,  if  neither  an  expert  nor  a  laggard, 
can  earn  an  amount  which  is  regarded  by  the  company  as  fair  wages. 
The  men  at  Pullman  claim  that  the  company  during  1893-94  set  the 
pace  through  experts,  so  that  with  their  forced  loss  of  time  an  average 
man  could  earn  little  more  than  the  rent  of  his  home,  owned  by  the 
company.  (6)  The  company  alleges  that  it  simply  readjusted  piecework 
prices  to  suit  the  necessities  of  the  times.  The  letting  of  piecework 
and  the  readjustment  of  prices  therefor  is  largely  in  the  hands  of  the 
"foremen,"  and  hence  sometimes  subject  to  abuses,  unknown  to  the 
management. 

Second,  by  reducing  the  pay  in  the  repair  shops,  employing  about 
800,  to  correspond  with  the  contract-work  prices,  (c)  The  main  reason 
given  for  this  reduction  was  that  wages  must  be  kept  uniform.  Under 
the  contracts  between  railroads  and  the  company  the  railroads  have 
paid,  since  1887,  2  cents  per  mile  for  each  mile  run  by  Pullman  cars.(<?) 
This  is  to  pay  the  Pullman  company  for  keeping  the  cars  in  repair,  as  it 
agrees  to  do,  and  is  exclusive  of  the  unreduced  charges  paid  to  the 
company  for  the  use  of  berths,  seats,  etc.  The  depression  of  1893 
caused  no  change  in  this  mileage  rate  under  existing  contracts.  The 
company  claims,  and  it  is  true,  undoubtedly,  that  the  dejjression  some- 
what reduced  this  fund  by  reason  of  the  larger  number  of  idle  cars 
than  usual  to  be  repaired  and  stored  at  some  expense,  and  caused 


a  See  testimony  of  George  M.  Pullman,  page,  537;  also  questions  225,  226,  and  246; 
also  the  testimony  generally  of  all  employees  at  Pullman  sworn  on  hearing;  also 
the  various  tables  submitted  by  Thomas  H.  Wickes  bearing  on  the  matter,  including 
the  table  of  comparison  of  April,  1894,  with  April,  1893. 

b  See  testimony  of  Thomas  W.  Heathcoate,  latter  part  of  answer  to  question  18 ; 
testimony  of  Merritt  Brown,  question  26;  testimony  of  Thomas  H.  Wickes,  questions 
148  to  154  inclusive. 

cSee  testimony  of  George  M.  Pullman,  questions  227,  228,  234,  and  235;  also  testi- 
mony of  Thomas  H.  Wickes,  question  274. 

d  See  testimony  of  Thomas  H,  Wickes,  questions  268  to  273, 
S,  Kx,  7^— XXI 


XXXIV 


CHICAGO    STRIKE. 


some  losses  from  ftiiling  roads.  The  testimony  of  the  Pullman  com- 
pany, however,  has  left  its  claim  in  this  regard  in  such  loose  and 
indefinite  shape  as  to  compel  the  conclusion  that  the  reduction  in  the 
repair  department  was  not  made  with  reference  to  these  depression 
results,  but  was  part  of  a  plan  designed  to  reduce  wages  in  every 
department  to  the  lowest  point  possible  to  be  reached  in  the  depart- 
ment most  seriously  affected  by  the  depression.  Some  reduction  of 
wages  in  all  departmentswasof  course  proper  under  the  circumstances, 
but  a  uniform  reduction  as  between  departments  so  differently  situated 
in  reference  to  revenue  as  the  car-building  and  repair  departments 
was  not  relatively  just  and  fair  toward  the  repair-shop  employees. 

The  earnings  of  employees  at  Pullman  Avere  reduced  bj''  these  meaas 
and  by  lessening  the  amount  of  work,  as  appears  in  the  fable  imme- 
diately following: 

EARNINGS  OF  CERTAIN  EMPLOYEES  AT  PULLMAN,  1893-94. 


May 

June 

July 

August   ... 
September . 

October 

November  . 
Decenibor  . 

January  ... 
February . . 

Marcb 

April 

Total 


T.W.  Heathcoate, 
inside  finislier. 

T.  Rhodie, 
painter. 

R.  W.  Coombs, 
car  builder. 

Jennie  Curtis, 
seamstress. 

Hours. 

Amount. 

Hours. 

Amount. 

Hours. 

Amount. 

Hours. 

Amount. 

252i 

$78.00 

244i 

$65. 66 

196i 

$47. 42 

235J 

$39.85 

280i 

96.85 

241i 

65.28 

92  j 

21.00 

212i 

31.24 

233i 

69.12 

216 

57.05 

170 

38.75 

181 

27.72 

244* 

62.75 

242 

65.14 

173  ' 

36.91 

197S 

30.18 

167i 

44.77 

232 

62.62 

94  j 

21.50 

147i 

23.90 

114 

26.92 

2301 

62.04 

42i' 

7.39 

2304 

34.62 

119 

29.05 

1251 

32.58 

91 

20. 54 

151 

24.39 

229| 

43.85 

52i 

12.52 

j 

18.37 

1801 

28.18 

261 

49.30 

279J 

66.84 

1921 

34.00 

216 

34. 21 

238J 

44.95 

227i 

51.69 

240  i 

60.00 

184 

25.47 

262J 

51.53 

254 

51.12 

125 

30.80 

212 

.24.92 

185i 

37.77 

226J 

48.65 

60 

9.00 

197J 

22.14 

2,588i 

634. 86 

2,572 

641. 19 

1, 616J 

345.  68 

2, 345J 

346. 82 

The  total  amount  of  wages  paid  for  the  years  ending  July  1,  1893, 
and  July  1,  1894,  has  been  stated. 

The  above  table  is  presented  by  the  company.  Some  witnesses 
swear  that  at  times,  for  the  work  done  in  two  weeks,  the  employees 
received  in  checks  from  4  cents  to  $1  over  and  above  their  rent,  (a)  The 
company  has  not  produced  its  checks  in  rebuttal. 

During  all  of  this  reduction  and  its  attendant  suffering  none  of  the 
salaries  of  the  officers,  managers,  or  superintendents  were  reduced.  (/>) 
Reductions  in  these  would  not  have  been  so  severely  felt,  would  have 
shown  good  faith,  Avould  have  relieved  the  harshness  of  the  situation, 
and  would  have  evinced  genuine  sympathy  with  labor  in  the  disasters 
of  the  times. 


«See  testimony  of  Thomas  \V.  Heathcoate,  qnestious  88,  107,  and  X08, 
&  Seo  testimouy  of  George  M.  Pullman,  questions  358  and  359. 


CHICAGO    STRIKE.  .  XXXV 

In  its  statements  to  the  public,  which  are  in  evidence,  the  company 
represents  that  its  object  in  all  it  did  was  to  continue  operations  for 
the  benefit  of  its  workmen  and  of  trades  people  in  and  about  Pullman 
and  to  save  the  public  from  the  annoyance  of  interrupted  travel.  The 
commission  thinks  that  the  evidence  shows  that  it  sought  to  keep  run- 
ning mainly  for  its  own  benefit  as  a  manufacturer,  that  its  plant  might 
not  rust,  that  its  competitors  might  not  invade  its  territory,  that  it 
might  keep  its  cars  in  repair,  that  it  might  be  ready  for  resumption 
when  business  revived  with  a  live  plant  and  competent  help,  and  that 
its  revenue  from  its  tenements  might  continue,  {a) 

RENTS. 

If  we  exclude  the  {esthetic  and  sanitary  features  at  Pullman,  the 
rents  there  are  from  20  to  25  per  cent  higher  than  rents  in  Chicago  or 
surrounding  towns  for  similar  accommodations.(&)  The  jesthetic  features 
are  admired  by  visitors,  but  have  little  money  value  to  employees, 
especially  when  they  lack  bread.  The  company  aims  to  secure  6 
per  cent  upon  the  cost  of  its  tenements,  which  cost  includes  a  propor- 
tionate share  for  paving,  sewerage,  water,  parks,  etc.  It  claims  now 
to  receive  less  than  4  per  cent.  It  has  some  brickmakers'  cottages 
upon  which,  at  $8  per  month,  it  must  obtain  at  least  40  per  cent 
return  u])on  their  value,  (c)  These  are,  however,  exceptional.  The  com- 
pany makes  all  repairs,  and  heretofore  has  not  compelled  tenants 
to  pay  for  them.  Under  the  printed  leases,  however,  which  tenants 
must  sign,  they  agree  to  pay  for  all  repairs  which  are  either  necessary 
(ordinary  wear  and  damages  by  the  elements  not  excepted)  or  which 
the  company  chooses  to  make. 

The  company's  claim  that  the  workmen  need  not  hire  its  tenements 
and  can  live  elsewhere  if  they  choose  is  not  entirely  tenable.  The  fear 
of  losing  work  keeps  them  in  Pullman  as  long  as  there  are  tenements 
unoccupied,  because  the  company  is  supposed,  as  a  matter  of  business, 
to  give  a  preference  to  its  tenants  when  work  is  slack.  The  emjjloyees, 
believing  that  a  tenant  at  Pullman  has  this  advantage,  naturally  feel 
some  compulsion  to  rent  at  Pullman,  and  thus  to  stand  well  with  the 
management,  ((i)  Exceptional  and  necessary  expert  workmen  do  not 
share  this  feeling  to  the  same  extent  and  are  more  free  to  hire  or 
own  homes  elsewhere,  {e)     While  reducing  wages  the  company  made  no 


a  See  testimony  of  George  M.  Pullman,  questions  350  to  357. 

Z*See  testimony  of  Isaiah  Campbell,  questions  22  to  35  inclusive;  testimony  of 
L.  H.  Johnson,  questions  50  to  52;  testimony  of  Duane  Doty,  questions  12  to  16; 
testimony  of  Andrew  W.  Pearson;  testimony  of  Rev.  M.  L.  Wickman,  questions  8 
and  15. 

cSee  testimony  of  Duane  Doty,  questions  1,  2,  8  to  23,  and  28  to  36  inclusive;  tes- 
timony of  George  M.  Pullman,  page  530;  testimony  of  L.  H.  Johnson,  questions  53 
and  54. 

d  See  testimony  of  Thomas  W.  Heathcoate,  questions  75  and  76 ;  testimony  of  Bev. 
M.  L.  Wickman,  questions  9  to  12  inclusive,  and  21  and  22. 

eSee  testimony  of  Rev,  M.  L,  Wickman,  questions  12  and  13. 


XXXVI  CHICAGO    STRIKE. 

reduction  iu  rents.  Its  position  is  that  the  two  matters  are  distinct, 
and  that  none  of  the  reasons  urged  as  justifying  wage  reduction  by  it 
as  an  employer  can  be  considered  by  the  company  as  a  landlord. 

The  company  claims  that  it  is  simply  legitimate  business  to  use  its 
position  and  resources  to  hire  in  the  labor  market  as  cheaply  as  possi- 
ble and  at  the  same  time  to  keep  rents  up  regardless  of  what  wages 
are  paid  to  its  tenants  or  what  similar  tenements  rent  for  elsewhere;  to 
avail  itself  to  the  full  extent  of  business  depression  and  competition  in 
reducing  wages,  and  to  disregard  these  same  conditions  as  to  rents. 
No  valid  reason  is  assigned  for  this  position  except  simply  that  the 
company  had  the  power  and  the  legal  right  to  do  it. 

Prior  to  the  so-called  "truck"  law  in  Illinois,  rent  was  deducted 
from  the  wages.  («)  Since  then  a  check  is  given  for  the  amount  of  the 
rent  and  another  for  the  balance  due  for  wages.  (&)  There  is  nothing 
to  prevent  the  payee  of  the  check  from  cashing  it  outside  of  the  bank, 
but  as  the  bank  is  rent  collector  it  presses  for  the  rent  and  is  aided  in 
collecting  it  by  knowledge  on  the  part  of  the  tenant  that  by  arrears  he 
may  lose  his  job.  (c)  At  the  time  of  the  strike  about  $70,000  of  unpaid 
rents  had  accumulated,  (r/)  It  is  fair  to  say  that  this  accumulation  of 
unpaid  rent  was  due  to  leniency  on  the  part  of  the  company  toward 
those  who  could  not  pay  the  rent  and  support  their  families.  Neither 
have  any  actual  evictions  taken  place.  The  company  has  held  these 
matters  in  abeyance  pending  wage  reductions  and  strike  difficulties. 

SHOP   ABUSES. 

Shop  abuses  also  played  some  part  in  the  controversy.  The  employees 
claimed  that  foremen  were  arbitrary  and  oppressive  and  mistreated  the 
men  in  various. ways,  (e)  It  is  likely  that  this  arose  largely  from  the 
friction  caused  by  wage  reductions  and  the  more  stringent  shop  rules 
needed  to  repress  growing  discontent.  In  times  of  depression  the 
oflBcers,  directors,  managers,  superintendents,  and  foremen  of  large 
corporations  are  forced  by  their  representative  positions  to  bear  down 
on  labor  with  such  weight,  in  order  to  protect  stockholders  against 
loss,  that  labor  becomes  sore  and  sensitive  in  small  matters  that  might 
otherwise  be  overlooked.  When  these  minor  grievances  were  presented 
to  the  management  a  sjjeedy  investigation  and  correction  were  promised. 
The  investigation  was  promptly  begun  before  the  employees  struck. 

a  See  testimony  of  Edward  F.  Bryant,  question  69. 

6  See  testimony  of  Edward  F.  Bryant,  pages  515  and  516. 

cSee  testimony  of  Edward  F.  Bryant,  pages  515  and  516;  also  questions  77  to  79 
inclusive,  and  140;  also  testimony  of  Thomas  \V.  Heathcoate,  question  87. 

dSee  testimony  of  George  W.  Howard,  in  question  32;  testimony  of  Thomas  W. 
Heathcoate,  question  73;  also  testimony  of  Edward  F.  Bryant,  questions  126  to  131 
inclusive. 

eSee  testimony  of  R,  "W.  Coombs,  question  27;  testimony  of  H.  O.  Lindeblad,  in 
qaestiou  5, 


CHICAGO    STRIKE.  XXXVII 

THE    STRIKE. 

The  reductions  at  Pullman  after  September,  1893,  were  the  result  of 
couferences  among  the  managers;  the  emxjloyees  for  the  first  time  knew 
of  them  when  they  took  effect.  No  explanations  or  couferences  took 
place  until  May  7  and  9  in  regard  thereto  between  the  employees  and 
the  officers  of  the  company.  For  the  reasons  stated  the  employees  at 
Pullman  were  during  the  winter  in  a  state  of  chronic  discontent,  (a) 
Upon  May  7  and  9  a  committee  of  40  from  all  the  departments  waited 
upon  the  management  and  urged  the  restoration  of  wages  to  the  basis 
of  June,  1893.  The  company  refused  this,  and  offered  no  concession  as 
to  wages  whatever,  maintaining  and  explaining  that  business  condi- 
tions did  not  justify  any  change.  The  company  based  its  entire  con- 
tention as  to  every  department  upon  the  facts  in  reference  to  car  build- 
ing (&)  to  which  we  have  alluded,  and  offered  to  show  its  books  and  figures 
as  to  the  cost  and  selling  prices  of  cars.  This  offer,  on  account  of  the 
strike  intervening,  was  not  acted  upon.  Had  it  been,  it  would  have 
resulted  in  the  figures  we  have  noted  as  to  car-building  contracts. 
The  purpose  of  the  management  was  obviously  to  rest  the  whole  matter 
upon  cost,  etc.,  in  its  most  seriously  crippled  department,  excluding 
from  consideration  the  facts  as  to  wages  in  the  repair  department,  to 
which  we  have  alluded. 

The  demand  of  the  employees  for  the  wages  of  June,  1893,  was  clearly 
unjustifiable.  The  business  in  May,  1894,  could  not  pay  the  wages  of 
June,  1893.  Eeductiou  was  carried  to  excess,  but  the  company  was 
liardly  more  at  fault  therein  than  were  the  employees  in  insisting  upon 
the  wages  of  June,  1893.  There  was  little  discussion  as  to  rents,  the 
company  maintaining  that  its  rents  had  nothing  to  do  with  its  wages 
and  that  its  revenue  from  its  tenements  was  no  greater  than  it  ought 
to  receive.     Miss  Curtis  testified  as  to  this  as  follows : 

We  stated  our  grievances  to  Mr.  Wickes  and  told  him  we  wanted 
our  wages  raised;  he  said  it  was  impossible  to  raise  them,  as  the  com- 
pany was  losing  money  on  its  contracts  and  it  could  not  possibly  raise 
our  wages  a  cent.  We  then  asked  if  they  did  not  think  they  could  lower 
rents  a  little.  He  said,  "  No ;  it  was  utterly  impossible  to  lower  the  rents 
one  penny,  as  they  were  only  receiving  about  3  per  cent  on  their 
investment  now,  and  were  losing  money  on  contracts  just  to  enable 
their  men  to  have  work."  Mr.  Wickes  then  appointed  another  inter- 
view with  us  the  following  Wednesday,  and  we  went  down  again  and 
saw  Mr.  Pullman;  he  said  he  could  not  raise  our  wages  nor  lower  the 
rents. 

The  company  had  a  legal  right  to  take  this  position,  but  as  between 
man  and  man  the  demand  for  some  rent  reduction  was  fair  and  reason- 


rtSee  testimony  of  Axel  Lundgren,  questions  4  to  12  inclusive;  testimony  ol  Pull- 
inaii  employees  generally;  also  statement  of  Pullman  employees  attached  to  testi- 
mony of  Sylvester  Keliher. 

fcSee  pamphlet  introduced  by  Thomas  H.  Wickes  in  his  testimony,  pages  578  to 
586;  testimony  of  George  M.  Pullman,  question  45,  etc.;  see  also  note  c,  pagexxxiil. 


XXXVIII  CHICAGO   STRIKE. 

able  under  all  the  circum  stances.  Some  slight  concession  in  this  regard 
would  probably  have  averted  the  strike,  provided  the  promise  not  to 
discharge  men  who  served  upon  the  committee  had  been  more  strictly- 
regarded. 

The  next  day,  May  10,  three  of  the  committee  were  laid  oft"  by  fore- 
men for  alleged  lack  of  work,  (o)  not  an  unusual  proceeding.  Those  who 
made  the  promise  had  nothing  to  do  with  this  action  and  deny  knowl- 
edge of  it  at  the  time.  The  foremen  who  did  it  are  suspected  by  the 
employees  of  concluding  that  some  laying  off  of  committeemen  just  at 
that  crisis  would  have  a  good  effect  and  would  accord  with  the  policy 
and  general  views  of  the  company.  The  foremen,  however,  deny  this. 
This  incident  was  inopportune  and  unfortunate,  to  say  the  least,  and 
ought  to  have  been  more  carefully  guarded  against  by  the  company. 
An  explanation  of  this  occurrence  was  not  asked  for  by  the  employees, 
as  it  ought  to  have  been,  before  striking. 

On  the  evening  of  May  10  the  local  unions  met  and  voted  to  strike 
at  once.  The  strike  occurred  on  May  11,  and  from  that  time  until  the 
soldiers  went  to  Pullman,  about  July  4,  three  huudred  strikers  were 
placed  about  the  company's  property,  professedly  to  guard  it  from 
destruction  or  interference. '  This  guarding  of  property  in  strikes  is,  as 
a  rule,  a  mere  pretense.  Too  often  the  real  object  of  guards  is  to  pre- 
vent newcomers  from  taking  strikers'  places,  by  persuasion,  often  to 
be  followed,  if  ineffectual,  by  intimidation  and  violence.  The  Pullman 
company  claims  this  was  the  real  object  of  these  guards.  The  strikers 
at  Pullman  are  entitled  to  be  believed  to  the  contrary  in  this  matter, 
because  of  their  conduct  and  forbearance  after  May  11.  It  is  in  evi- 
dence, and  uncontradicted,  that  no  violence  or  destruction  of  property 
by  strikers  or  sympathizers  took  placeat  Pullman,  {b)  and  thatuntil  July 
3  no  extraordinary  protection  was  had  from  the  police  or  military 
against  even  anticiiiated  disorder,  (c) 

Such  dignified,  manly,  and  conservative  conduct  in  the  midst  of 
exeiteuient  and  threatened  starvation  is  worthy  of  the  highest  type  of 
American  citizenship,  and  with  like  prudence  in  all  other  directions 
will  result  in  due  time  in  the  lawful  and  orderly  redress  of  labor 
wrongs.  To  deny  this  is  to  forswear  patriotism  and  to  declare  this 
Government  and  its  people  a  failure. 

As  soon  as  the  strike  was  declared  the  company  laid  off  its  600 
emi)loyees  who  did  not  join  the  strike,  and  kept  its  shoi)S  closed  until 
August  2.  During  this  period  the  Civic  Federation  of  Chicago,  com- 
posed of  eminent  citizens  in  all  kinds  of  business  and  from  all  grades 
of  respectable  society,  called  upon  the  company  twice  to  urge  concili- 


aSee  testimony  of  George  W.  Howard,  question  22;  also  statement  of  W.  C.  Phil- 
pott  in  testimony  of  Thomas  H.  Wickes,  page  587. 

1)  See  testimony  of  Axel  Lundgren,  questions  41,  43,  46,  and  47 ;  also  statement  of 
Thomas  H.  Wickes,  page  591. 

c  See  testimony  of  Thomas  W.  Heathcoate,  page  417. 


CHICAGO    STRIKE.  XXXIX 

ation  and  arbitration.  The  company  reiterated  the  statement  of  its 
position,  and  maintained  that  tliere  was  nothing  to  arbitrate;  that  the 
questions  at  issue  were  matters  of  fact  and  not  proper  subjects  of 
arbitration.  The  Civic  Federation  suggested  that  competition  should 
be  regarded  in  rents  as  aycII  as  in  wages.  The  company  denied  this. 
Wages  and  rents  were  to  it  separate  matters;  tlie  principles  applicable 
to  one  had  no  relation  to  the  other.  Later  it  gave  the  same  answer  to  a 
committee  of  its  employees.  Upon  June  15  and  22  it  declined  to  receive 
any  communication  from  committees  of  the  American  Railway  Union, 
one  proposition  of  that  body  being  that  the  comj)any  select  two  arbitra- 
tors, the  court  two,  and  these  four  a  fifth,  to  determine  Avhcther  there 
was  anything  to  arbitrate.  The  company  also  refused  to  consider  any  , 
arbitration  at  the  solicitation  of  the  common  council  of  Chicago,  and 
repeated  its  stereotyped  answer  that  there  was  nothing  to  arbitrate 
when  appealed  to  by  Mayor  Pingree,  of  Detroit,  himself  a  large  manu- 
facturer, whom  Mayor  Hopkins  accompanied  to  Pullman.  At  that 
interview  Mayor  Pingree  claimed  to  have  telegrams  from  the  mayors 
of  over  fifty  of  the  largest  cities,  urging  that  there  should  be  arbitra- 
tion. 

RAILROAD  STRIKE. 

Between  June  9  and  June  2G  a  regular  convention  of  the  American 
Eailway  Union  was  held  with  open  doors  at  Chicago,  representing  465 
local  unions  and  about  150,000  members,  as  claimed.  The  Pullman 
matter  was  i)ublicly  discussed  at  these  meetings  before  and  after  its 
committees  above  mentioned  reported  their  interview  s  with  the  Pull- 
man company.  On  June  21  the  delegates,  under  instructions  from 
their  local  unions,  unanimously  voted  that  the  members  of  the  union 
should  stop  handling  Pullman  cars  on  June  26  unless  the  Pullman 
company  would  consent  to  arbitration.  On  June  26  the  boycott  and 
strike  began.  The  strike  on  the  part  of  the  railroad  employees  was  a 
sympathetic  one.  No  grievances  against  the  railroads  had  been  pre- 
sented by  their  employees,  nor  did  the  American  Eailway  Union  declare 
any  such  grievances  to  be  any  cause  whatever  of  the  strike.  To  simply 
boycott  Pullman  cars  would  have  been  an  incongruous  step  for  the 
remedy  of  complaints  of  railroad  employees.  Throughout  the  strike  the 
strife  was  simply  over  handling  Pullman  cars,  the  men  being  ready  to 
do  their  duty  otherwise.  («)  The  contracts  between  the  railroads  and 
the  Pullman  company  as  to  Pullman  cars  created  such  close  relations 
between  them  as  to  increase  the  natural  sympathy  of  organization 
between  the  members  of  the  American  Eailway  Union  ui)on  railroads 
and  their  brothers  at  Pullman.     It  is  also  apparent  that  the  readiness 

a  See  testimony  of  Eugene  V.  Debs,  questions  29  and  74;  preamble  and  resolution 
of  General  Managers'  Association,  adopted  June  25, 1894,  in  testimony  of  E.  St.  John ; 
testimony  of  George  W.  Howard,  question  100;  testimony  of  Frank  T.  McDonald, 
question  14.  Other  witnesses  on  behalf  of  employees  give  testimony  of  a  like  char- 
acter. 


XL  CHICAGO    STRIKE. 

to  strike  sympathetically  was  promoted  by  the  disturbed  and  apprehen- 
sive condition  of  railroad  employees  resulting  from  wage  reductions  on 
different  lines,  blacklisting,  etc.,  and  from  the  recent  growth  and  develop- 
ment of  the  General  Managers'  Association,  which  seemed  to  them  a 
menace,  {a)  Hence  therailroad  employees  were  ripe  to  espouse thecause 
of  the  Pullman  strikers.  In  some  instances  they  struck  in  disregard 
of  existing  contracts  between  their  different  organizations  and  the  rail- 
roads, notably  upon  the  Illinois  Central.  They  evaded  the  responsi- 
bility of  their  organizations  for  this  conduct  by  claiming  to  act  as 
individuals.  They  justified  themselves  under  the  idea  of  balancing 
wrongs. 

After  June  26  the  officers  and.  agents  of  the  union  managed  and 
urged  on  the  strike  at  every  available  point  upon  the  railroads  center- 
ing at  "Chicago  until  it  reached  proportions  far  in  excess  of  their 
original  anticipations,  and  led  to  disorders  beyond  even  their  control. 
Urgent  solicitations  and  appeals  to  strike  and  to  stand  firm  continued 
in  the  many  public  meetings  held  each  day  in  and  about  Chicago,  and 
appear  in  the  telegrams  sent  about  the  country. 

On  July  7  the  principal  officers  of  the  American  Eailway  Union  were 
indicted,  arrested,  and  held  under  $10,000  bail.  Upon  July  13  they 
were  attached  for  contempt  of  the  United  States  court  in  disobeying 
an  injunction  issued  on  July  2  and  served  on  the  3d  and  4th,  enjoining 
them,  among  other  things,  from  compelling,  or  inducing  by  threats, 
intimidation,  persuasion,  force,  or  violence,  railroad  employees  to  refuse 
or  fail  to  perform  their  duties.  It  is  seriously  questioned,  and  with 
much  force,  whether  courts  have  jurisdiction  to  enjoin  citizens  from 
"persuading"  (&)  each  other  in  industrial  or  other  matters  of  common 
interest.  However,  it  is  generally  recognized  among  good  citizens 
that  a  mandate  of  a  court  is  to  be  obeyed  until  it  is  modified  and  cor- 
rected by  the  court  that  issued  it. 

ACTION   OF  FEDERATED   UNIONS. 

Upon  July  12,  at  the  request  of  the  American  Railway  Union,  about 
25  of  the  executive  oflicers  of  national  and  international  labor  unions 
affiliated  with  the  American  Federation  of  Labor  met  at  Chicago.  The 
situation  was  laid  before  them.  The  conference  concluded  that  the 
strike  was  then  lost;  that  a  general  sympathetic  strike  throughout  the 
country  would  be  unwise  and  inexpedient,  and,  at  the  time,  against  the 
best  interests  of  labor.  This  conference  issued  a  strong  and  temperate 
address  to  members,  expressing  sympathy  with  the  purposes  of  the 
American  Eailway  Union,  advising  those  on  strike  to  return  to  work, 
and  urging  that  labor  organize  more  generally,  combine  more  closely, 
and  seek  the  correction  of  industrial  evils  at  the  ballot  box.     To  some 


ttSee  testimony  of  Eugene  V.  Debs,  pages  132  to  134. 

b  See  decision  of  Mr.  Justice  Harlan  in  re  I\  M.  Arthur  et  al.  v.  Thomas  F.  Oakes  et 
al.  in  the  circuit  court  of  the  eastern  district  of  Wisconsin,  October  1,  1894. 


CHICAGO    STRIKE.  XLI 

extent  the  trade  unions  of  Chicago  had  struck  in  sympathy,  but  this 
movement  was  checked  by  the  action  of  the  conference  of  the  12th  and 
extended  no  farther.  This  action  indicates  clearer  views  by  labor  as 
to  its  responsibilities,  the  futility  of  strikes,  and  the  appropriate 
remedies  in  this  country  for  labor  wrongs. 

Upon  July  13  the  American  Kailway  Union,  through  the  mayor  of 
Chicago,  sent  a  communication  to  the  General  Managers'  Association 
offering  to  declare  the  strike  off.  provided  the  men  should  be  restored 
to  their  former  positions  without  prejudice,  except  in  cases  where  they 
had  been  convicted  of  crime.  The  General  Managers'  Association  in 
advance  advertised  that  it  would  receive  no  communication  whatever 
from  the  American  Railway  Union,  and  when  received  returned  it 
unanswered.  With  reference  to  this,  John  M.  Egan,  strike  manager  of 
the  General  Managers'  Association,  testified  as  follows  : 

A  few  days  later  I  was  out  of  the  office  for  awhile,  and  on  my  return 
I  found  the  mayor  and  Alderman  McGillen  talking  to  Mr.  St.  John. 
I  went  into  the  room  and  Mr.  St.  John  told  me  the  mayor  had  come 
there  with  a  letter  signed  by  the  officers  of  the  American  Kailway 
Union.  I  told  the  mayor  I  thought  he  should  not  have  permitted  him- 
self to  be  a  messenger  boy  for  those  parties,  and  that  I  further  consid- 
ered that  the  General  Managers'  Association  should  not  receive  any 
such  document.  The  document  w^as  left  there,  and  during  the  after- 
noon I  was  requested  to  take  the  document  back  to  the  mayor.  1 
endeavored  to  find  him,  but  found  he  had  gone  to  Kensington.  I 
endeavored  to  reach  him  by  telephone,  but,  as  it  was  growing  late  and 
1  could  not  locate  him,  I  took  the  document  back  to  the  city  hall  and 
gave  it  to  the  chief  of  police,  with  the  request  that  he  place  it  on  the 
ii'.ayor's  desk,  so  he  would  receive  it  early  the  next  morning.  I  wrote 
a  letter  in  which  I  stated  to  the  mayor  that  the  General  Managers* 
Association  did  not  consider  they  should  receive  any  such  document. 
On  my  return  to  the  office  I  was  able  to  locate  the  mayor  at  Kensing- 
ton, but  they  told  me  he  had  retired  for  the  night,  but  I  telegraphed 
the  contents  of  the  letter,  with  a  request  to  the  party  who  received  it 
that  he  deliver  it  to  the  mayor  that  night.  That  is  all  I  know  about 
any  overtures. 

Q.  18,  Was  there  anything  in  the  document  itself  that  was  offensive 
or  insulting  to  you? — Ans.  The  document  was  printed  in  the  papers 
that  afternoon  and  the  next  morning,  and  I  think  it  speaks  for  itself. 

Q.  19.  Did  you  consider  it  offensive  or  insulting? — Ans.  I  considered 
that  any  party  who  attacked  railway  companies  as  the  American  Rail- 
way Union  had  done,  and  were  whipped,  as  I  considered  they  were,  it 
was  displaying  considerable  cheek  to  dictate  the  terms  of  their  surrender. 

Q.  20.  You  do  not  answer  my  question;  I  asked  you  if  there  was  any- 
thing in  the  document  itself  that  was  offensive  or  insulting  to  youf — 
Ans.  I  don't  know  as  I  would  be  the  judge  of  that. 

Q.  21.  What  is  your  opinion  about  it? — Ans.  I  have  not  the  authority 
to  say  whether  it  was  insulting  to  the  general  managers  or  anything 
of  that  kind. 

Q.  22.  Did  you  return  it  on  that  account,  because  the  terms  of  the 
document  were  offensive  or  insulting  to  you  or  to  the  managers? — 
Ans.  Well,  the  managers  requested  it  to  be  returned. 

Q.  23.  Was  that  the  reason  you  returned  it? — Ans.  That  was  the 
reason  I  returned  it;  yes,  sir.  , 


XLII  CHICAGO    STRIKE. 

Q.  24.  Is  it  Dot  a  fact  that  instead  of  being  offensive  in  its  character 
so  far  as  the  composition  was  concerned,  it  was  a  document  courteously 
composed  and  looking  toward  the  settlement  of  a  great  and  destructive 
strike  that  was  then  in  progress? — Ans.  Well,  as  I  said,  the  document 
speaks  for  itself.  I  considered  that  the  matter  was  settled  then,  prac- 
tically. 

In  reply  to  this  Mayor  Hopkins  testified : 

I  want  to  say  in  this  connection  that  the  papers  quote  Mr.  Egan  as 
saying  in  his  testimony  tliat  he  told  the  mayor  lie  should  not  be  a  jnes- 
senger  boy  for  those  men.  I  want  to  say  emphatically  that  Mr.  Egan 
never  said  that  to  me;  I  don't  think  I  would  have  allowed  him  to  say  it. 

At  this  date,  July  13,  and  for  some  days  previous,  the  strikers  had  been 
virtually  beaten.  The  action  of  the  courts  deprived  the  American  Rail- 
way Union  of  leadership,  («)  enabled  the  General  Managers' Association 
to  disintegrate  its  forces,  and  to  make  inroads  into  its  ranks.  The  mobs 
had  worn  out  their  fury,  or  had  succumbed  to  the  combined  forces  of  the 
police,  the  United  States  troops  and  marshals,  and  the  State  militia. 
The  railroads  were  gradually  repairing  damages  and  resuming  traffic 
with  the  aid  of  new  men  and  with  some  of  those  strikers  who  had  not 
been  offensively  active  or  whose  action  was  laid  to  intimidation  and 
fear.  At  this  juncture  the  refusal  of  the  General  Managers'  Asso- 
ciation to  treat  with  the  American  Railway  Union  was  certainly  not 
conciliatory;  it  was  not  unnatural,  however,  because  the  association 
charged  the  American  Railway  Union  with  having  inaugurated  an 
unjustifiable  strike,  laid  at  its  door  the  respousibility  for  all  the  disor- 
der and  destruction  that  had  occurred,  and,  as  the  victor  in  the  fight, 
desired  that  the  lesson  taught  to  labor  by  its  defeat  should  be  well 
learned. 

Tlie  policy  of  both  the  Pullman  company  and  the  Railway  Managers' 
Association  in  reference  to  applications  to  arbitrate  closed  the  door  to 
all  attempts  at  conciliation  and  settlement  of  ditferences.  The  com- 
mission is  impressed  with  the  belief,  by  the  evidence  and  by  the 
attendant  circumstances  as  disclosed,  that  a  different  policy  would 
have  prevented  the  loss  of  life  and  great  loss  of  property  and  wages 
occasioned  by  the  strike. 

ACTION   OF    THE   GENERAL   MANAGERS'  ASSOCIATION  (h). 

On  June  22  an  officer  of  the  Pullman  company  met  the  general  man- 
agers by  invitation,  and  the  general  managers,  among  other  things, 
resolved : 

That  we  hereby  declare  it  to  be  the  lawful  right  and  duty  of  said 
railway  companies  to  protest  against  said  proposed  boycott;  to  resist 
the  same  in  the  interest  of  their  existing  contracts,  and  for  the  benefit 
of  the  traveling  public,  and  that  we  will  act  unitedly  to  that  end. 


a  See  testimony  of  Eugene  V,  Debs,  questions  77  and  78. 

h  See  testimony  of  E.  St.  .John,  page  250,  as  to  resolution  above  quoted;  as  to  the 
association  generally,  see  testimony  of  E.  St.  John,  pages  241  to  260;  also  see  testi- 
mony of  John  M.  Egan,  commencing  on  page  269. 


CHICAGO    STRIKE.  XLIII 

From  June  22  until  the  practical  end  of  tbe  strike  the  General  Man- 
agers' Association  directed  and  controlled  the  contest  on  the  part  of  the 
railroads,  using  the  combined  resources  of  all  the  roads  to  sui^port  the 
contentions  and  insure  the  protection  of  each.  On  June  20  we  find  in 
the  proceedings  of  the  association  the  following  statement: 

A  general  discussion  of  the  situation  followed.  It  was  suggested 
that  some  common  plan  of  action  ought  to  be  adopted  in  case  employees 
refused  to  do  switching  of  passenger  trains  with  Pullman  cars,  but  were 
willing  to  continue  allot  their  other  work,  and  it  was  the  general  expres- 
sion that  in  case  any  man  refused  to  do  his  duty  he  would  be  discharged. 

Headquarters  were  established ;  agencies  for  hiring  men  opened ;  as 
the  men  arrived  they  were  cared  for  and  assigned  to  duty  upon  the 
different  lines :  a  bureau  was  started  to  furnish  information  to  the  press ; 
the  lawyers  of  the  different  roads  were  called  into  conference  and  com- 
bination in  legal  and  criminal  proceedings;  the  general  managers  met 
daily  to  hear  reports  and  to  direct  proceedings;  constant  communica- 
tion was  kept  up  with  the  civil  and  military  authorities  as  to  the  move- 
ments and  assignments  of  police,  marshals,  and  troops,  {a)  Each  road  did 
what  it  could  with  its  operating  forces,  but  all  the  leadership,  direction, 
and  concentration  of  power,  resources,  and  influence  on  the  part  of  the 
railroads  were  centered  in  the  General  Managers'  Association.  That 
association  stood  for  each  and  all  of  its  24  combined  members,  and  all 
that  they  could  command,  in  fighting  and  crushing  the  strike. 

VIOLENCE    AND    DESTRUCTION    OF    PKOPERTY    AND    MILITARY     PRO- 
CEEDINGS. 

The  figures  given  as  to  losses,  fatalities,  destruction  of  property,  and 
arrests  for  crime  tell  the  story  of  violence,  intimidation,  and  mob  rule 
better  than  it  can  be  described.  Chicago  is  a  vast  metropolis,  the  cen- 
ter of  an  activity  and  growth  unprecedented  in  history,  and  combining 
all  that  this  implies.  Its  lawless  elements  are  at  present  augmented 
by  shiftless  adventurers  and  criminals  attracted  to  it  by  the  Expo- 
sition and  impecuniously  stranded  in  its  midst.  In  the  mobs  were  also 
actively  present  many  of  a  certain  class  of  objectionable  foreigners,  who 
are  being  precipitated  upon  us  by  unrestricted  immigration.  ISTo  more 
dangerous  place  for  such  a  strike  could  be  chosen. 

The  strike,  as  a  strike  and  as  is  usual  with  strikes,  presented  an 
opportunity  to  these  elements  to  burn  and  plunder,  and  to  violate  the 
laws  and  ordinances  of  the  city,  State,  and  nation.  Superintendent  of 
Police  Brennan  swears  as  follows : 

On  the  26th  of  June  the  mayor  directed  me  to  use  the  whole  police 
force  in  preserving  the  peace,  protecting  property,  and  i^reventing  vio- 
lence, and  from  that  time  on  until  the  arrival  of  the  troops  I  think  I  suc- 
ceeded pretty  well.  So  far  as  I  understand,  there  had  not  been  very 
much  violence  or  depredations  committed  prior  to  the  3d  of  July,  when 

a  See  testimony  of  .Johu  M.  Egan,  question  4. 


XLIV  CHICAGO    STRIKE. 

the  troops  arrived.  At  that  time  the  indications  looJced  bad  and  the 
arrival  of  the  troops,  I  think,  was  opportune. 

Q.  7.  Why  do  you  say  the  situation  was  threatening  then? — Ans.  At 
that  time  my  police  force  had  been  on  duty  constantly  for  nine  or  ten 
days  and  the  calls  from  the  railway  companies  were  so  numerous  and 
became  so  frequent  that  it  more  than  absorbed  the  whole  police  depart- 
ment to  supply  all  calls  and  demands.  I  had,  at  that  time,  3,000  or  3,100 
men  in  service,  and  every  one  of  them  was  engaged  in  that  particular 
business  of  preventing  violence. 

Q.  8.  Did  you  have  to  keep  pait  of  that  force  in  other  portions  of  the 
city? — Ans.  Yes,  sir;  this  trouble  extended  all  over  the  city;  this  city 
ispractically  a  network  of  railways,  and  the  territory  being  quite  large— 
about  195  square  miles,  I  believe — and  to  cover  that  territory,  which  is 
tilled  with  railway  tracks,  yards,  towers,  switch  houses,  and  freight 
houses,  it  can  readily  be  seen  that  it  would  absorb  the  whole  police 
force. 

This  appears  to  be  a  correct  statement  of  the  situation  prior  to  July 
3.  The  police  force  of  Chicago,  including  tlie  reserves,  is  not  more 
than  sufficient  for  the  protection  of  the  city  under  normal  conditions, 
and  it  was  during  the  strike  placed  under  excessive  and  unusual  strain. 
As  a  body,  the  police  were  courageous  and  efficient.  We  have  in  the 
evidence  the  authority  of  railroads  for  this  statement.  Some  railroads 
charged  the  police  with  inefficiency  and  with  failing  to  discharge  their 
duties  through  sympathy  with  strikers.  These  charges  have  not  been 
proved.  The  mayor  directed  suspension  and  discharge  for  any  such 
cause,  and  some  suspensions  occurred  on  charges,  but  investigation  dis- 
closed no  evidence  to  sustain  them.  The  disorders  at  Blue  Island  were 
outside  the  city  of  Chicago.  Appropriate  orders  for  the  police  to  coop- 
erate with  the  troops  were  issued.  That  policemen  sympathized  with 
strikers  rather  than  with  the  corporations  can  not  be  doubted,  nor 
would  it  be  surprising  to  find  the  same  sentiment  rife  among  the  mili- 
tary. These  forces  are  largely  recruited  from  the  laboring  classes. 
Indeed,  the  danger  is  growing  that  in  strike  wars  between  corporations 
and  employees,  military  duty  will  ultimately  have  to  be  done  by  others 
than  volunteers  from  labor  ranks. 

The  military  and  police  confined  themselves  to  their  duty  of  arrest- 
ing criminals,  dispersing  mobs,  and  guarding  property.  United  States 
deputy  marshals,  to  the  number  of  3,600,  were  selected  by  and  appointed 
at  request  of  the  General  Managers'  Association,  and  of  its  railroads,  {a) 
They  were  armed  and  paid  by  the  railroads,  and  acted  in  the  double 
capacity  of  railroad  employees  and  United  States  officers.  While  oper- 
ating the  railroads  they  assumed  and  exercised  unrestricted  United 
States  authority  when  so  ordered  by  their  employers,  or  whenever  they 
regarded  it  as  necessary.  They  were  not  under  the  direct  control  of 
any  Government  official  while  exercising  authority.     This  is  placing 

a  See  testimony  of  John  M.  Egau,  questions  4,  and  8  to  12  inclusive;  testimony  of 
E.  St.  John,  page  233;  testimony  of  Deputy  United  States  Marshal  Donnelly,  ques- 
tions 2  to  7  inclusive,  and  22  to  28  inclusive. 


CHICAGO    STRIKE.  XLV 

officers  of  the  Government  under  control  of  a  combination  of  railroads. 
It  is  a  bad  precedent,  that  might  well  lead  to  serious  consequences. 

There  is  no  evidence  before  the  commission  that  the  ofticers  of  the 
American  Eailway  Union  at  any  time  participated  in  or  advised  intimi- 
dation, violence,  or  destruction  of  property.  They  knew  and  fully 
appreciated  that  as  soon  as  mobs  ruled  the  organized  forces  of  society 
would  crush  the  mobs  and  all  responsible  for  them  in  the  remotest 
degree,  and  that  this  meant  defeat.  The  attacks  upon  corporations 
and  monopolies  by  the  leaders  in  their  speeches  are  similar  to  those  to 
be  found  in  the  magazines  and  industrial  works  of  the  day. 

Much  stress  has  been  laid  upon  the  following  dispatch,  which  Mr. 
Debs  denies  sending.  It  went,  however,  from  the  headquarters  of  the 
union,  and  that  body  is  responsible  for  whatever  it  means: 

Chicago,  July  5,  1894. 
To  CouRTHEAD,  Soutli  Butte,  Mont: 

The  G.  M.  are  weakening.  If  strike  not  settled  in  forty-eight  hours 
complete  paralysis  will  follow.  Potatoes  and  ice  out  of  sight.  Save 
your  money  and  buy  a  gun. 

E.  V.  Debs. 

The  union  insists  that  a  young  clerk  named  Benedict  sent  this  dis- 
patch to  a  friend;  that  the  expression  "buy  a  gun"  was  one  used 
between  them  and  had  no  reference  to  the  strike.  Nothing  like  this 
is  found  elsewhere  among  the  dispatches  before  the  commission. 

The  participation  of  strikers  in  riotous  proceedings  is  another  and 
more  serious  matter.  As  to  this,  the  commission  has  before  it  not 
only  the  evidence  of  parties  interested  for  or  against  the  strikers,  but 
a  vast  amount  of  testimony  from  disinterested  sources.  Among  these 
are  the  mayor  and  the  officials  of  the  police  and  fire  departments  of 
Chicago  and  the  reporters  of  the  newspapers  of  that  city  representing 
all  shades  of  opinion  as  to  the  strike  question.  These  latter  witnesses 
were  in  the  midst  of  the  occurrences  from  day  to  day  and  observed 
events  with  keenly  trained  faculties.  From  this  testimony  it  is  fair 
to  conclude  that  strikers  were  concerned  in  the  outrages  against  law 
and  order,  although  the  number  was  undoubtedly  small  as  compared 
with  the  whole  number  out.  The  strikers'  experience  and  training 
were  to  be  seen  in  the  spiking  and  misplacing  of  switches,  removing 
rails,  crippling  of  interlocking  systems,  the  detaching,  side  tracking, 
and  derailing  of  cars  and  engines,  placing  of  coupling  pins  in  engine 
machinery,  blockading  tracks  with  cars,  and  attempts  to  detach  and 
run  in  mail  cars.  The  commission  is  of  opinion  that  offenses  of  this 
character,  as  well  as  considerable  threatening  and  intimidation  of  those 
taking  strikers'  places,  were  committed  or  instigated  by  strikers. 

The  mobs  that  took  possession  of  railroad  yards,  tracks,  and  cross- 
ings after  July  3,  and  that  stoned,  tipped  over,  burned,  and  destroyed 
cars  and  stole  their  contents,  were,  by  general  concurrence  in  the  tes- 
timony, composed  generally  of  hoodlums,  women,  a  low  class  of  for- 


XLVI  CHICAGO    STRIKE. 

eigners,  and  recruits  from  the  criminal  classes.  Few  strikers  were 
recognized  or  arrested  in  these  mobs,  which  were  without  leadership, 
and  seemed  simply  bent  upon  plunder  and  destruction.  They  gathered 
wherever  opportunity  offered  for  their  dastardly  work,  and,  as  a  rule, 
broke  and  melted  away  when  force  faced  them.  In  the  view  that  this 
railroad  strike  was  wrong;  that  such  mobs  are  well  known  to  be  inci- 
dental to  strikes,  and  are  thereby  given  an  excuse  and  incentive  to 
gather  and  to  commit  crime,  the  responsibility  rests  largely  with  the 
American  Eailway  Union;  otherwise  that  association,  its  leaders,  and 
a  very  large  majority  of  the  railroad  men  on  strike  are  not  shown  to 
have  had  any  connection  therewith.  Labor  advocates  contend  that 
strikes  are  the  last  resort;  that  they  are  the  industrial  war  measures 
of  labor  to  assert  and  obtain  the  rights  which  humanity,  morality,  and 
changed  conditions  demand;  that  labor  can  not  otherwise  arouse  inter- 
est in  its  demands,  and  that,  hence,  labor  is  no  more  responsible  for  the 
public  disorders  and  calamities  that  attend  strikes  than  are  the  employ- 
ers who  provoke  them.  Many  impartial  observers  are  reaching  the 
view  that  much  of  the  real  responsibility  for  these  disorders  rests  with 
the  people  themselves  and  with  the  Government  for  not  adequately 
controlling  monopolies  and  corporations,  and  for  failing  to  reasonably 
protect  the  rights  of  labor  and  redress  its  wrongs.  None  assert  that 
laws  can  completely  remedy  contentions  as  to  wages,  etc.,  but  many  do 
insist  that  something  substantial  can  be  accomplished  in  this  direction 
if  attempted  honestly,  reasonably,  and  in  good  faith. 

CONCLUSIONS  AND  RECOMMENDATIONS. 

The  commission  has  tried  to  find  the  drift  of  public  opinion  as  to  strikes, 
boycotts,  and  labor  disputes  upon  railroads,  and  to  find  their  remedy. 
The  invitation  freely  extended  in  this  direction  has  brought  before  the 
commission  many  expressions  of  views,  orally  and  by  written  communi- 
cations. A  condensation  of  these  latter  is  presented  with  this  report. 
In  reaching  its  conclusions  the  commission  has  endeavored,  after  care- 
ful consideration,  to  give  due  weight  to  the  many  suggestions  and  argu- 
ments jjresented.  It  is  encouraging  to  find  general  concurrence,  even 
among  labor  leaders,  in  condemning  strikes,  boycotts,  and  lockouts  as 
barbarisms  unfit  for  the  intelligence  of  this  age,  and  as,  economically  con- 
sidered, very  injurious  and  destructive  forces.  Whether  won  or  lost  is 
broadly  immaterial.  They  are  war — internecine  war — and  call  for  prog- 
ress to  a  higher  plane  of  education  and  intelligence  in  adjusting  the  rela- 
tions of  capital  and  labor.  These  barbarisms  waste  the  products  of  both 
capital  and  labor,  defy  law  and  order,  disturb  society,  intimidate  capi- 
tal, convert  industrial  paths  where  there  ought  to  be  plenty  into  high- 
ways of  poverty  and  crime,  bear  as  their  fruit  the  arrogant  flush  of 
victory  and  the  humiliating  sting  of  defeat,  and  lead  to  preparations 
for  greater  and  more  destructive  conflicts.  Since  nations  have  grown 
to  the  wisdom  of  avoiding  disputes  by  conciliation,  and  even  of  settling 


CHICAGO    STRIKE.  XLVII 

them  by  arbitration,  why  should  capital  and  labor  in  their  dependence 
upon  each  other  persist  in  cuttiug  each  other's  throats  as  a  settlement  of 
differences  ?  Official  reports  show  that  much  progress  has  been  made  in 
the  more  sane  direction  of  conciliation  and  arbitration  even  in  America. 
Abroad  they  are  in  advance  of  us  in  this  policy.  Were  our  population 
as  dense  and  opportunities  as  limited  as  abroad,  present  industrial 
conditions  would  keep  us  much  more  disturbed  than  we  now  are  by 
contests  between  capital  and  labor. 

In  England,  prior  to  1824,  it  was  conspiracy  and  felony  for  labor  to 
unite  for  purposes  now  regarded  there  by  all  classes  as  desirable  for 
the  safety  of  the  Government,  of  capital,  and  for  the  protection  of  the 
rights  of  labor.  All  industrial  labor  is  there,  as  a  rule,  covered  by 
unions  trained  to  greater  conservatism  through  many  disastrous  con- 
flicts under  harsh  conditions  and  surroundings.  Capital  abroad  pre- 
fers to  deal  with  these  unions  rather  than  Avith  individuals  or  mobs, 
and  from  their  joint  efforts  in  good  faith  at  conciliation  and  arbitra- 
tion much  good  and  many  peaceful  days  have  resulted.  In  fifteen  of 
our  States  arbitration  in  various  forms  is  now  provided  bylaw;  the 
United  States  and  eleven  States  have  sanctioned  labor  organizations 
by  statute.  Some  of  our  courts,  however,  are  still  poring  over  the  law 
reports  of  antiquity  in  order  to  construe  conspiracy  out  of  labor  unions. 
We  also  have  employers  who  obstruct  progress  by  perverting  and  mis- 
applying the  law  of  supply  and  demand,  and  who,  while  insisting  upon 
individualism  for  workmen,  demand  that  they  shall  be  let  alone  to 
combine  as  they  please  and  that  society  and  all  its  forces  shall  protect 
them  in  their  resulting  contentions. 

The  general  sentiment  of  employers,  shared  in  by  some  of  the  most 
prominent  railroad  representatives  we  have  heard,  is  now  favorable  to 
organization  among  employees,  {a)  It  results  in  a  clearer  presentation 
and  calmer  discussion  of  differences,  instils  mutual  respect  and  forbear- 
ance, brings  out  the  essentials,  and  eliminates  misunderstandings  and 
immaterial  matters.  To  an  ordinary  observer,  argument  to  sustain  the 
justice  and  necessity  of  labor  unions  and  unity  of  action  by  laborers  is 
superfluous. 

The  rapid  concentration  of  power  and  wealth,  under  stimulating  legis- 
lative conditions,  in  persons,  corporations,  and  monopolies  has  greatly 
changed  the  business  and  industrial  situation.  Our  railroads  were 
chartered  upon  the  theory  that  their  competition  would  amply  protect 
shippers  as  to  rates,  etc.,  and  employees  as  to  wages  and  other  conditions. 
Combination  has  largely  destroyed  this  theory,  and  has  seriously  dis- 
turbed the  natural  working  of  the  laws  of  supply  and  demand,  which, 
in  theory,  are  based  upon  competition  for  labor  between  those  who 
"  demand"  it  as  well  as  among  those  who  supply  it.  The  interstate 
commerce  act  and  railroad-commission  legislation  m  over  thirty  States 
are  simply  efforts  of  the  people  to  free  themselves  from  the  results  of 


testimony  of  Albert  W,  SuUivau,  questjous  42  to  52  inclusive. 


XLVIII  CHICAGO    STRIKE. 

this  destruction  of  competition  by  combination.  Labor  is  likewise 
affected  by  this  progressive  combination.  While  competition  among 
railroad  employers  of  labor  is  gradually  disappearing,  competition 
among  those  who  supply  labor  goes  on  with  increasing  severity. 
For  instance,  as  we  have  shown,  there  is  no  longer  any  competitive 
demand  among  the  24  railroads  at  Chicago  for  switchmen.  They  have 
ceased  competing  with  each  other;  they  are  no  longer  24  sepajrate  and 
competing  employers;  they  are  virtually  one.  To  be  sure,  this  combi- 
nation has  not  covered  the  whole  field  of  labor  supply  as  yet,  but  it  is 
constantly  advancing  in  that  direction.  Competition  for  switchmen's 
labor  still  continues  with  outside  employers,  among  whom,  again,  we 
find  a  like  tendency  to  eliminate  competitive  demand  for  labor  by 
similar  combination.  In  view  of  this  progressive  perversion  of  the  laws 
of  supply  and  demand  by  capital  and  changed  conditions,  no  man  can 
■well  deny  the  right  nor  dispute  the  wisdom  of  unity  for  legislative  and 
protective  purposes  among  those  who  supply  labor. 

However  men  may  differ  about  the  propriety  and  legality  of  labor 
unions,  we  must  all  recognize  the  fact  that  we  have  them  with  us  to 
stay  and  to  grow  more  numerous  and  powerful.  Is  it  not  wise  to  fully 
recognize  them  by  law;  to  admit  their  necessity  as  labor  guides  and 
protectors,  to  conserve  their  usefulness,  increase  their  responsibility, 
and  to  prevent  their  follies  and  aggressions  by  conferring  upon  them 
the  privileges  enjoyed  by  corporations,  with  like  proper  restrictions  and 
regulations?  The  growth  of  corporate  power  and  wealth  has  been  the 
marvel  of  the  past  fifty  years.  Corporations  have  undoubtedly  bene- 
fited the  country  and  brought  its  resources  to  our  doors.  It  will  not  be 
surprising  if  the  marvel  of  the  next  fifty  years  be  the  advancement  of 
labor  to  a  position  of  like  power  and  responsibility.  We  have  hereto- 
fore encouraged  the  one  and  comparatively  neglected  the  other.  Does 
not  wisdom  demand  that  each  be  encouraged  to  prosper  legitimately 
and  to  grow  into  harmonious  relations  of  equal  standing  and  responsi- 
bility before  the  law?  This  involves  nothing  hostile  to  the  true  inter- 
ests and  rights  of  either. 

A  broad  range  of  remedies  is  presented  to  the  commission  as  to  the 
best  means  of  adjusting  these  controversies,  such  as  Government  con- 
trol or  ownership  of  railroads;  compulsory  arbitration ;  licensing  of 
employees;  the  single-tax  theory;  restriction  of  immigration  and  exclu- 
sion of  pauper  labor;  protection  of  American  industries;  monetary 
legislation;  suppression  of  trusts  and  combinations;  written  contracts 
requiring  due  notice  of  discharge  by  employers  and  of  leaving  service 
by  employees;  United  States  labor  commission  to  investigate  and  fix 
hours  of  labor,  rates  of  wages,  etc.;  a  fixed  labor  unit;  authority  to 
courts  to  settle  these  questions;  insurance  departments  and  pensiouing 
of  employees ;  fixing  hours  of  labor  and  minimum  rates  of  wages  by 
statute;  change  in  law  of  liability  of  master  to  servant;  and  various 
suggestions  for  relief,  outside  of  my  legislative  action,  through  educa- 


CHICAGO    STRIKE.  XLIX 

tional  methods  tending  to  the  inculcation  of  mutual  forbearance  and 
just  consideration  of  each  other's  rights  in  the  premises. 

The  commission  deems  recommendations  of  specific  remedies  prema- 
ture. Such  a  problem,  for  instance,  as  universal  Government  owner- 
ship of  railroads  is  too  vast,  many-sided,  and  far  away,  if  attempted,  to 
be  considered  as  an  immediate,  practical  remedy.  It  belongs  to  the 
socialistic  group  of  public  questions  where  Government  ownership  is 
advocated  of  monopolies,  such  as  telegraphs,  telephones,  express  com- 
panies, and  municipal  ownership  of  waterworks,  gas  and  electric 
lighting,  and  street  railways.  These  questions  are  pressing  more 
urgently  as  time  goes  on.  They  need  to  be  well  studied  and  consid- 
ered in  every  aspect  by  all  citizens.  Should  continued  combinations 
and  consolidations  result  in  half  a  dozen  or  less  ownerships  of  our  rail- 
roads within  a  few  years,  as  is  by  no  means  unlikely,  the  question  of 
Government  ownership  will  be  forced  to  the  front,  and  we  need  to  be 
ready  to  dispose  of  it  intelligently.  As  combination  goes  on  there 
will  certainly  at  least  have  to  be  greater  Government  regulation  and 
control  of  quasi-public  corporations  than  we  have  now. 

Whenever  a  nation  or  a  state  finds  itself  in  such  relation  to  a  rail- 
road that  its  investments  therein  must  be  either  lost  or  protected  by 
ownership,  would  it  not  be  wise  that  the  road  betaken  and  the  experi- 
ment be  tried  as  an  object  lesson  in  Government  ownership?  The 
Massachusetts  Railroad  Commission,  which  is  noted  for  its  eminent 
services  as  a  conservative  pioneer  in  the  direction  of  Government  con- 
trol of  railroads  through  the  force  of  public  opinion,  for  several  years 
urged  that  the  experiment  of  State  ownership  be  tried  with  the  Fitch- 
burg  system,  because  of  the  large  State  investment  in  the  Hoosac  Tun- 
nel. We  need  to  fear  everything  revolutionary  and  wrong,  but  we 
need  fear  nothing  that  any  nation  can  successfully  attempt  in  direc- 
tions made  necessary  by  changed  economic  or  industrial  conditions. 
Other  nations  under  their  conditions  own  and  operate  telegraphs  and 
railroads  with  varying  results.  Whether  it  is  practicable  for  this 
nation  to  do  so  successfully  when  it  becomes  necessary  to  save  an 
investment  or  when  the  people  determine  it  shall  be  done,  is  an  open 
and  serious  question  which  can  not  be  answered  fully  except  by  actual 
experiment. 

We  ought  now  to  inaugurate  a  permanent  system  of  investigation 
into  the  relations  between  railroads  and  employees  in  order  to  prepare 
to  deal  with  them  intelligently,  and  that  we  may  conservatively  adopt 
such  remedies  as  are  sustained  by  public  opinion  for  defects  or  wrongs 
that  may  from  time  to  time  appear.  In  the  long  contest  between  ship- 
pers and  railroads  penal  and  specific  legislation  proved  inadequate. 
The  lessons  of  this  period  of  legislation  need  to  be  well  remembered 
by  labor.  Hasty,  revcHgeful,  and  retaliatory  legislation  injures  every 
interest,  benefits  nobody,  and  can  not  long  be  entorced. 

The  question  of  the  right  of  Congress  to  legislate  in  regard  to  the 
S.  Ex.  7 IV 


L  CHICAGO    STRIKE. 

conditions  of  employment  and  service  upon  railroads  engaged  in  inter- 
state commerce  is  a  most  important  one,  and  the  right  seems  by  analogy 
bo  exist.  Similar  power  as  to  rates,  discriminations,  poolings,  etc.,  has 
been  exercised  in  the  act  to  regulate  commerce,  and  has  been  sus- 
tained by  the  courts.  The  position  of  railroads  as  quasi-public  cor- 
porations subjects  them  and  their  employees  to  this  power,  and  imposes 
its  exercise  upon  Congress  as  a  duty,  whenever  necessary  for  the 
protection  of  the  people.  The  question  of  what  shall  be  done  is  there- 
fore one  of  expediency  and  not  of  power.  When  railroads  acted  as 
udge  and  jury  in  passing  upon  the  complaints  of  shippers,  the  people 
demanded  and  Congress  granted  a  Government  tribunal  where  ship- 
pers and  railroads  could  meet  on  equal  terms  and  have  the  law  adjust 
their  difierences.  In  view  of  the  Chicago  strike  and  its  suggested 
dangers,  the  people  have  the  same  right  to  provide  a  Government  com- 
mission to  investigate  and  report  upon  differences  between  railroads  and 
their  employees,  to  the  end  that  interstate  commerce  and  public  order  may 
be  less  disturbed  by  strikes  and  boycotts.  Public  opinion,  enlightened 
by  the  hearings  before  such  a  commission,  will  do  much  toward  settling 
many  difficulties  with  out  strikes,  and  in  strikes  will  intelligently  sustain 
the  side  of  right  and  justice  and  often  compel  reasonable  adjust- 
ments. Experience,  however,  has  taught  that  public  opinion  is  not 
alone  powerful  enough  to  control  railroads.  Hence  power  to  review  and 
enforce  the  just  and  lawful  decisions  of  the  commission  against  rail- 
roads ought  to  be  vested  in  the  United  States  courts.  There  can  be  no 
valid  objection  to  this  when  we  bear  in  mind  that  we  are  now  dealing 
simply  with  quasi-public  corporations  and  not  with  either  individuals 
or  private  corporations.  What  is  safe  and  proper  as  to  the  former 
might  be  unsafe  and  unjust  for  the  latter.  That  which  is  done  under 
the  act  to  regulate  commerce  as  to  rates  can  safely  and  ought  properly 
to  be  done  as  to  railroad  wages,  etc.,  by  a  commission  and  the  courts. 

Some  stability  and  time  for  conciliation  and  amicable  adjustment  of 
disi)utes  can  also  be  secured  by  providing  that  labor  unions  shall  not 
strike  pending  hearings  which  they  seek;  and  that  railroads  shall  not 
discharge  men  except  for  cause  during  hearings,  and  for  a  reasonable 
time  thereafter.  A  provision  may  well  be  added  requiring  employees 
during  the  same  period  to  give  thirty  days'  notice  of  quitting  and  for- 
bidding their  unions  from  ordering  or  advising  otherwise. 

Many  assert  with  force  that  no  law  can  be  justly  devised  to  compel 
employers  and  employees  to  accept  the  decisions  of  tribunals  in  wage 
disputes.  It  is  insisted  that  while  the  employer  can  readily  be  made 
to  pay  under  an  arbitration  decision  more  than  is  or  than  he  thinks  is 
right,  the  employee  can  not  practically  be  made  to  work.  He  can  quit, 
or  at  least  force  his  discharge,  when  the  decision  gives  him  less  than 
he  demands.  Hence  nothing  reciprocal  can  be  devised,  and  without 
that  element  it  is  urged  that  nothing  just  cau  be  enacted  of  a  compul- 
sory nature.    This  may  be  true  in  general  industries,  but  it  has  less 


CHICAGO    STRIKE.  LI 

weight  as  between  railroads  and  their  labor.  Railroads  have  not  the 
inherent  rights  of  employers  engaged  in  private  business;  they  are 
creatures  of  the  state,  whose  rights  are  conferred  upon  them  for  public 
purposes,  and,  hence,  the  right  and  duty  of  Government  to  compel  them 
to  do  in  every  respect  what  public  interest  demands  are  clear  and  free 
from  embarrassment.  It  is  certainly  for  the  public  interest  that  rail- 
roads  shall  not  abandon  transportation  because  of  labor  disputes,  and, 
therefore,  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Government  to  have  them  accept  the 
decision  of  its  tribunals,  even  though  complete  reciprocal  obligations 
can  not  be  imposed  upon  labor.  The  absence  of  such  reciprocal  obli- 
gations would  rarely  affect  railroads  unjustly,  if  we  regard  the  question 
in  a  practical  light. 

Railroad  employment  is  attractive  and  is  sought  for.  There  has 
never  been  a  time  in  the  history  of  railroads  when  men  did  not  stand 
ready  to  fill  a  labor  vacancy  at  the  wages  fixed  by  the  roads.  The 
number  is  constantly  increasing.  If  railroads  can  thus  always  get  the 
men  that  they  need  at  what  they  offer,  is  there  any  doubt  that  the 
supply  will  be  ample  at  any  rates  fixed  by  a  commission  and  the  courts? 
A  provision  as  to  notice  of  quitting,  after  a  decision,  would  be  ample 
to  enable  railroads  to  fill  vacancies  caused  in  their  labor  departments 
by  dissatisfaction  with  decisions.  To  go  further,  under  present  con- 
ditions, at  least,  in  coercing  employees  to  obey  tribunals  in  selling  their 
labor  would  be  a  dangerous  encroachment  upon  the  inherent,  inaliena- 
ble right  to  work  or  quit,  as  they  please. 

When  railroad  employees  secure  greater  certainty  of  their  positions 
and  of  the  right  to  promotion,  compensation  for  injury,  etc.,  it  will  be 
time  enough  to  consider  such  strict  regulation  for  them  as  we  can  now 
justly  apply  to  railroads,  whose  rights  are  protected  by  laws  and 
guarded  by  all  the  advantages  of  greater  resources  and  more  concen- 
trated control. 

In  solving  these  questions,  corporations  seldom  aid  the  efforts  of  the 
people  or  their  legislators.  Fear  of  change  and  the  threatened  loss  of 
some  power  invariably  make  them  obstructionists.  They  do  not  desire 
to  be  dealt  with  by  any  legislation ;  they  simply  want  to  be  let  alone, 
confident  in  their  ability  to  protect  themselves.  Whatever  is  right  to 
be  done  by  statutes  must  be  done  by  the  people  for  their  own  protec- 
tion, and  to  meet  the  just  demand  that  railroad  labor  shall  have  public 
and  impartial  hearing  of  all  grievances. 

The  commission  does  not  pretend  to  present  a  specific  solution  of  these 
questions.  Its  effort  is  simply  to  present  the  facts;  to  point  out  that 
the  relations  of  cai)ital  and  labor  are  so  disturbed  as  to  urgently  demand 
the  attention  of  all  thinking  and  patriotic  citizens;  to  suggest  a 
line  of  search  for  practical  remedial  legislation  which  may  be  followed 
with  safety,  and,  finally,  to  urge  and  invite  labor  and  railroads  to  hearty 
cooperation  with  the  Government  and  the  people  in  efforts  to  substi- 
tute law  and   reason   in  labor  disputes  for  the  dangers,  sufferings, 


LII  CHICAGO    STRIKE. 

uncertainties,  and  widespread  calamities  incident  to  strikes,  boy- 
cotts, and  lockouts. 

To  secure  prompt  and  efficient  data  for  the  formation  of  correct 
j)ublic  sentiment  in  accordance  with  this  line  of  thought,  the  commission 
contends  that  law  should  make  it  obligatory  upon  some  public  tribunal 
promptly  to  intervene  by  means  of  investigation  and  conciliation,  and 
to  report  whenever  a  difficulty  of  the  character  of  that  occurring  dur- 
ing the  past  season  at  Chicago  arises.  This  intervention  should  be 
provided  for,  first,  when  the  tribunal  is  called  upon  to  interfere  by 
both  of  the  parties  involved;  second,  when  called  upon  by  either  of  the 
parties,  and,  third,  when  in  its  own  judgment  it  sees  fit  to  intervene. 
The  proper  tribunal  should  have  the  right,  in  other  words,  to  set 
itself  in  motion,  and  rapidly,  too,  whenever  in  its  Judgment  the  public 
is  sustaining  serious  inconvenience.  If  the  public  can  only  be  edu- 
cated out  of  the  belief  that  force  is  and  must  always  remain  the  basis 
of  the  settlement  of  every  industrial  controversy,  the  problem  becomes 
simplified.  A  tribunal,  however,  should  not  intervene  in  mere  quar- 
rels between  employer  and  employed,  unless  the  public  peace  or  con- 
venience is  involved;  but  where  it  is  a  clear  case  of  public  obstruction, 
whether  caused  by  individuals  or  by  a  corporation,  a  tribunal  should 
not  wait  until  called  on  by  outside  agencies  to  act.  All  parties 
concerned  should  be  notified  that  the  tribunal  proposes,  upon  a 
certain  day — and  the  earlier  the  day  the  better — to  be  at  a  given 
place,  there  to  look  into  the  cause  of  the  trouble,  to  adjust  the  difficul- 
ties by  conciliation,  if  possible,  and,  in  the  event  of  failure,  to  fix  the 
responsibility  for  the  same.  Proceeding  in  this  way  the  report  of  such 
a  commission  would  cause  public  opinion  promptly  to  settle  the  ques- 
tion, or,  at  least,  to  fix  the  responsibility  where  it  belonged,  and  to 
render  successful  opposition  to  the  conclusions  reached  an  improba- 
bility.   To  carry  out  this  idea  involves  no  complicated  legislation. 

As  authorized  by  statute,  the  commission  has  decided  upon  certain 
recommendations  and  certain  suggestions,  growing  out  of  its  study  of 
the  Chicago  strike  and  boycott.  These  recommendations  and  sugges- 
tions are  upon  three  lines:  First,  for  Congressional  action;  second,  for 
State  action;  and  third,  for  the  action  of  corporations  and  labor  organ- 
izations. It  readily  sees  the  impropriety  to  a  certain  extent  of  making 
any  recommendation  for  State  action,  yet  feels  it  a  duty,  as  a  result 
of  its  investigations,  to  make  such  suggestions  as  will  enable  citizens 
interested  in  State  legislation  to  benefit  by  its  experience,  and  also  to 
make  such  suggestions  to  corporations  and  labor  organizations  as  shall 
tend  to  harmonize  some  of  the  existing  difficulties.  The  commission 
therefore  recommends : 

I. 

(1)  That  there  be  a  permanent  United  States  strike  commission 
of  three  members,  with  duties  and  powers  of  investigation  and 
recommendation  as  to  disputes  between  railroads  and  their  employees 


CHICAGO    STEIKE.  LIII 

similar  to  those  vested  in  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  as  to 
rates,  etc. 

a.  That,  as  in  the  interstate  commerce  act,  power  be  given  to  the 
United  States  courts  to  compel  raihoads  to  obey  the  decisions  of  the 
commission,  after  summary  hearing  unattended  by  technicalities,  and 
that  no  delays  in  obejdng  the  decisions  of  the  commission  be  allowed 
pending  appeals. 

ft.  That,  whenever  the  parties  to  a  controversy  in  a  matter  within  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  commission  are  one  or  more  railroads  upon  one  side 
and  one  or  more  national  trade  unions,  incorporated  under  chapter  567 
of  the  United  States  Statutes  of  1885-86,  or  under  State  statutes,  upon 
the  other,  each  side  shall  have  the  right  to  select  a  representative,  who 
shall  be  appointed  by  the  President  to  serve  as  a  temporary  member  of 
the  commission  in  hearing,  adjusting,  and  determining  that  particular 
controversy. 

(This  provision  would  make  it  for  the  interest  of  labor  organizations 
to  incorporate  under  the  law  and  to  make  the  commission  a  practical 
board  of  conciliation.  It  would  also  tend  to  create  confidence  in  the 
commission,  and  to  give  to  that  body  in  every  hearing  the  benefit  of 
practical  knowledge  of  the  situation  upon  both  sides.) 

c.  That,  during  the  pendency  of  a  proceeding  before  the  commission 
inaugurated  by  national  trade  unions,  or  by  an  incorporation  of 
employees,  it  shall  not  be  lawful  for  the  railroads  to  discharge  employees 
belonging  thereto  except  for  inefficiency,  violation  of  law,  or  neglect  of 
duty;  nor  for  such  unions  or  incorporation  during  such  pendency  to 
order,  unite  in,  aid,  or  abet  strikes  or  boycotts  against  the  railroads 
complained  of;  nor,  for  a  period  of  six  months  after  a  decision,  for  such 
railroads  to  discharge  any  such  employees  inw^hose  x)laces  others  shall 
be  employed,  except  for  the  causes  aforesaid ;  nor  for  any  such  employees, 
during  a  like  period,  to  quit  the  service  without  giving  thirty  days' 
written  notice  of  intention  to  do  so,  nor  for  any  such  union  or  incor- 
poration to  order,  counsel,  or  advise  otherwise. 

(2)  That  chapter  567  of  the  United  States  Statutes  of  1885-86  be 
amended  so  as  to  require  national  trade  unions  to  provide  in  their  arti- 
cles of  incorporation,  and  in  their  constitutions,  rules,  and  by-laws  that 
a  member  shall  cease  to  be  such  and  forfeit  all  rights  and  privileges 
conferred  on  him  by  law  as  such  by  participating  in  or  by  instigating 
force  or  violence  against  persons  or  property  during  strikes  or  boycotts, 
or  by  seeking  to  prevent  others  from  working  through  violence,  threats, 
or  intimidations;  also,  that  members  shall  be  no  more  personally  liable 
for  corporate  acts  than  are  stockholders  in  corporations. 

(3)  The  commission  does  not  feel  warranted,  with  the  study  it  has 
been  able  to  give  to  the  subject,  to  recommend  positively  the  establish- 
ment of  a  license  system  by  which  all  the  higher  employees  or  others  of 
railroads  engaged  in  interstate  commerce  should  be  licensed  after  due 
and  proper  examination,  but  it  would  recommend,  and  most  urgently, 


LIV  CHICAGO    STRIKE. 

that  this  subject  be  carefully  and  fully  considered,  by  the  proper  com- 
mittee of  Congress.  Many  railroad  employees  and  some  railroad  officials 
examined  and  many  others  who  have  filed  their  suggestions  in  writing 
with  the  commission  are  in  favor  of  some  such  system.  It  involves  too 
many  complications,  however,  for  the  commission  to  decide  upon  the 
exact  plan,  if  any,  which  should  be  adopted. 

II. 

(1)  The  commission  would  suggest  the  consideration  by  the  States  of 
the  adoption  of  some  system  of  conciliation  and  arbitration  like  that, 
for  instance,  in  use  in  the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts.  That 
system  might  be  reenforced  by  additional  provisions  giving  the  board 
of  arbitration  more  power  to  investigate  all  strikes,  whether  requested 
so  to  do  or  not.  and  the  question  might  be  considered  as  to  giving  labor 
organizations  a  standing  before  the  law,  as  heretofore  suggested  for 
national  trade  unions. 

(2)  Contracts  requiring  men  to  agree  not  to  join  labor  organizations 
or  to  leave  them,  as  conditions  of  employment,  should  be  made  illegal, 
as  is  already  done  in  some  of  our  States. 

III. 

(1)  The  commission  urges  employers  to  recognize  labor  organiza- 
tions; that  such  organizations  be  dealt  with  through  representatives, 
with  special  reference  to  conciliation  and  arbitration  when  difficulties 
are  threatened  or  arise.  It  is  satisfied  that  employers  should  come  in 
closer  touch  with  labor  and  should  recognize  that,  while  the  interests 
of  labor  and  capital  are  not  identical,  they  are  reciprocal. 

(2)  The  commission  is  satisfied  that  if  employers  everywhere  will 
endeavor  to  act  in  concert  with  labor;  that  if  when  wages  can  be 
raised  under  economic  conditions  they  be  raised  voluntarily,  and  that 
if  when  there  are  reductions  reasons  be  given  for  the  reduction,  much 
friction  can  be  avoided.  It  is  also  satisfied  that  if  employers  will  con- 
sider employees  as  thoroughly  essential  to  industrial  success  as  capital, 
and  thus  take  labor  into  consultation  at  proper  times,  much  of  the 
severity  of  strikes  can  be  tempered  and  their  number  reduced. 


tin 


